Lets talk about Bree
by maymay74
Summary: Edward never thought he would find happiness with Bella, a medium. If only he could convince her to retire... Esme is a devoted mother who would do everything for her daughter Bree, EVERYTHING. Based on Agatha Christie's tale 'The last séance'.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! Here I am with a new adventure. This story has a lot of Supernatural, bits of horror and lots of adventure. Each chapter will have a part on Edward's POV, and the other part will be on Esme's POV. It's based on Agatha Christie's 'The last seance'. So, let's get started.**

* * *

**EPOV**

"You gotta be kidding me!"

I laughed at my friend David. He was one of the editors of the company that publishes my books, Twilight Publishing.

"No man. Chelsea swears by this woman. She's completely obsessed."

Chelsea Volturi was the daughter of the owner of the company, Aro. She married very young to Jared Brenner, a motocross racer. The passion lasted a year, the divorce procedures lasted five. Well, it would had been more but Jared died in an accident on his bike.

Now one would think that Chelsea must had grieved and moved on, that wasn't the case. Chelsea and Jared really loved each other but had a poor way of showing it. She made him choose between his career and her... so he won a race the next day. Since then, Chelsea spent her nights with a lot of men to get him jealous, and Jared got immersed in racing his bike to spite her. Fate put an end to their path of destruction. Now Chelsea is brokenhearted. Therapy just didn't help. And when we thought there was no hope, someone introduced her to this woman, Isabella Swan, who talked to the dead.

Now, I think it's utterly bullshit, but it seems to appease Chelsea and make her happy, which makes Aro happy. That makes the lives of everyone working at Twilight easier.

"And you say she invited her to the party?"

Twilight makes an annual party to show the press the future releases. It's a big event that gather not only press and celebrities, it also gives the chance to the writers and main editors to be in the spotlight.

David smiled. "Yes. Can you imagine her?"

As a matter of fact, I could. I pictured an older fat woman, dressed in tunics and full of glass beads necklaces.

"But I wonder how Aro allowed Chelsea to invite her. She must had thrown an epic tantrum."

"Probably, now tell me do you have a date? I don't want to be the only one going alone."

I smiled. David knew about my self-imposed celibacy. Let's just say that experience showed me that the only women who approach me, were the ones who were attracted to my wallet.

"Don't worry, I'll be your wingman."

XXXXXX

The party was as crowded as I expected. David left me alone the moment a couple of blonde young girls approached him to talk about the new book he was editing for Sarah Lyle. Something about a dystopian world saga, with lots of action and a sweet love story.

I tried to avoid the starlets who came to talk to me, like I said, I knew what they were after and what they offered wasn't something I found worthy of my time.

I had to butter up some top executives asses, because that's why these parties existed; and maybe I flirted a bit with the wives of said executives. All to stay in their good graces. But somehow, I found myself alone and bored.

I stood in one hidden corner of the ballroom, a glass of scotch on my hand to keep pretenses, when I found something I didn't think was possible to find at these parties. A beautiful woman hiding from the attention just like me.

She was probably in her late twenties, her dark hair loose on her back, fair skin and the pair of most expressive brown eyes I had ever seen in my life. Her dress was modest, not making a blatant show of her assets, the dark blue of the fabric made a wonderful contrast with her pale skin.

Now, I know I'm not precisely a Casanova, but I know how to talk to girl without embarrassing myself. So I went to talk to her.

"Did you know that everyone avoids this corner because it's the farthest from the bar?"

She turned to look at me, and for God's sake if I didn't feel the earth shook. She smiled, and her wonderful eyes trespassed my soul.

"But it seems that you came here prepared." She pointed to my full glass.

"I'm trying to keep it light. This reunions tend to send me to sleep. But you on the other hand, it looks like your hands are empty. Do you want me to remedy that situation?"

"Oh no, sorry. I have to keep my fast for today."

"Edward Cullen." I said while extending my hand, glad to find she took it.

"Isabella Swan."

I almost cough when I heard her name. She was Isabella the medium? No way!

"It seems that you know about me." Her eyes looked sad.

"Nothing bad, I can assure you. And I'm a bit shocked that you don't know about me."

She smiled again.

"Let me guess. You are one of the editors of the new Young Adult line they will publish next year." She said while blushing. Hmm, maybe she likes that kind of books but is ashamed of admit it.

"No, that would be my friend David over there." And I pointed to David who was dancing with one of the blond girls. "I write other kind of books. Thrillers and mystery are more my alley."

She looked thoughtful for a second, then she said "You wrote 'Through the eyes of a stranger'!"

"Yes, it was my third published book." My smug smile overshadowed hers.

"No way! And to think that I didn't recognize you." Her shoulder pushed me, and the most endearing blush covered her face.

"Well, I think that to make up to me for your unforgettable mistake " I winked "you'll have to stay with me chatting for the rest of the party."

Her blush accentuated, but she nodded. "Ok."

We talked about books and movies, her taste was similar to mine; and we remained hidden on that corner when a shrill voice interrupted us.

"Isabella? Isabella! Where are you?"

"Oh shit." She said while hiding her face in her hands.

"You don't want to see Chelsea? I heard she was quite proud of having you here."

"Ugh! It's just that she likes...You know what I do for her?"

I nodded.

"Well, that's an act very intimate. I don't like attention from any kind, and she's a bit... overwhelming. I ..."

"Isabeeellaaaa!" Chelsea's voice was coming closer to us.

"Come, let me hide you from her." I took her hand and guided her through the throngs of people. Aiming to a little balcony on the side of the ballroom. Lucky for us, the doors to the balcony were open, and hidden behind curtains.

"Now, tell me why you don't want Chelsea to find you."

"Well, first I want you to know that I'm not a 'scam'. What I do is real."

She said the last words with a seriousness that made me think people probably laughed on her face. So I didn't.

"Because of that, I'm very picky with the people I take as clients. The process is very stressful for me , so I only choose people who really need to talk to their lost ones to find closure. That's the only thing they will get anyway."

I nodded, because she was right. What else could anyone get?

"Chelsea was in a terrible place when her mother brought her to me. She was almost suicidal because of her guilt. So I acquiesced to have a couple of sessions, try to locate her husband, and let them mend whatever they needed." She turned to me, looking for a sign of mockery, which she didn't find.

"Well, her husband was also looking for her from the other side, from what I heard, they talked and I thought Chelsea finally found peace."

"But she didn't want to let you go."

"Yeah, she's using me as a crutch. I told her this was the last one, because she's hogging her husband and he won't find peace if she doesn't let him go. Well, we kinda fought, but I agreed to meet her here at the party. But I was clear that the session was intimate, and only she and her mother could be present."

I looked at her. "Why?"

"Like I told you, it's a very stressful process, and once I'm in contact with the other side, my mind is out of here. More people in the room lead to jokes and people moving me when I'm in trance. My body is all alone in the room. Once I had a bad experience... a man tried to... push my chair, just to prove that all of this was a trick. And I fell. I was unconscious for a day, until I finally got back to my body. What people like Chelsea or that man didn't realize is that the trance state is dangerous for me. I risk my safety when I leave my body behind, and they can't always guarantee all the presents have good intentions."

I nodded because I understood. "Yeah, I've met Chelsea before, she's very selfish."

She turned to me, a disappointed look on her face, maybe she thought I knew Chelsea in a way I never wanted to know her.

"Not that way. Her attitude always affected Aro. We knew to give Aro manuscripts or ask for anything when Chelsea wasn't there, otherwise he would deny us simply because he was in a bad mood."

"Isabellaaa" Chelsea's voice was very close to where we hid.

"If I go with you and I promise to take care of you, would you give me the chance to be present on her last session?"

"Would you really take care for me? Won't let anyone come close or try something?"

"Sure!"

"alright. Let's face Chelsea."

I took her hand and kissed her knuckles.

"Together, we'll face her together."

Who knew that would be the real beginning of my life.

**EsmePOV**

I looked to the mirror, and what I found displeased me.

Today was the last day I would be known as Esme Everson, from now on I retook my maiden name. Platt.

Ten years ago I married Charles Everson as a girl full of love and illusions. He was the most charming man I'd ever met, so handsome and virile... too bad it turned out in a nightmare. First I admired his tenacity to achieve whatever he wanted, later I found he wasn't used to hear no. And I realized the true meaning of 'not taking no for an answer'.

He tried to mend his violent ways when I got pregnant, and he focused on work which led us to wealthyness. When Bree was born, he became the most thoughtful parent, and spoiled her rotten. A couple of years later, he wanted us to try for a boy. I got pregnant, but this time my health became an issue. By the time I was about to give birth, my blood pressure skyrocketed and they had to take the baby out of me to give us a chance to survive. It was too late for our baby and we lost him, he was a boy.

Since that day Charles changed. If I thought he was violent before, now he was worst. I had to take Bree on lots of 'vacations' to avoid Charles presence on the house. My parents never believed such a charming man was capable of mistreating his wife, so I was alone.

Then suddenly his attitude changed. It was the day I found he had a lover, and I had to end my marriage with him. Because he was poor when we married, there was no pre-nup, and the lawyer told me I was to receive half of our assets. Charles got angry, but even his lawyer told him to let it go, at least he had someone by his side through all the mess our divorce made.

Today I received the papers. I was finally divorced from Charles. I was Esme Platt again. This marriage brought me financial stability, and a social position; that I was so glad his new partner Buffy won't get no matter how hard she tries. And above everything else, brought the light of my life, my daughter Bree.


	2. Chapter 2

**Happy Valentine's day!**

* * *

**EPOV**

Chelsea brought us to a room nearby. Four more people were seated around a round table. Very cliché if you asked me.

"I found her, and he brought one more guest." Chelsea said with a sneer.

Chelsea wasn't happy when Bella told her she needed me by her side. But seeing that Chelsea had some friends here, when she promised only her mother would witness the séance... she had to let me stay here.

One of the more annoying guests at the party was seated in front of Bella. He was eyeing her like she was a steak.

"So where is the Ouija board to start with this party?"

Bella just rolled her eyes, and pushed her chair behind. She wanted to get out of the annoying man's reach.

"Chelsea, please close the curtains. Edward, the door."

I did it carefully, noticing that once it was closed, you couldn't hear the noise from the outside.

Annoying prick asked "Do I need to turn off the light? Light some candles?"

Bella smiled and asked to just seat and relax. Honestly I was glad he asked, because that was the kind of shit you see they do in a séance in movies; and I didn't want to look like a fool in front of Bella.

"OK, there are some rules. To guarantee the complete success of this session, I need you to keep your hands on the table at all times." Bella said looking very serious. Annoying prick winked at Chelsea. "But what if I want to check if you're using some kind of trick? Maybe there are some wires hiding in..."

Bella lifted her hand. "Stop. Chelsea proposed the place of this session, it's the first time I'm here. I'm sure you didn't even know where we were going to be. Besides, I'm doing it for your safety. The more relaxed we're while I'm in trance, the easier we get Jared to come and talk. Now, please put your hands on the table. If you have any doubt, I'm sure by now, Chelsea had become an expert and could answer your questions."

"Why won't you answer to us?" This time an old woman was the one who asked.

"You'll see." Bella said with a mysterious smile.

We all seated and put our hands at the table. Annoying prick tried to make us join hands but Bella told him it wasn't necessary.

She straightened her back and closed her eyes.

For one minute we remained in utter silence, waiting for something to happen. My eyes scanned the room, waiting for a sign of contact with the other side.

Chelsea noted that annoying prick was about to do something stupid, so she just hushed him.

Bella hummed softly. She repeated the tune again and again. Her hands went to her head, and she tied her hair. All without opening her eyes or stopping her tune.

I was getting a bit anxious, and I wasn't the only one. The eyes of every person were on her, then on Chelsea who was at the edge of her seat.

I felt something passing by my back. I turned back but there was nothing there, not even wind moving the curtains.

Now Bella was swaying from side to side, not excessively, just a soft cadence in time with her tune.

Then she stopped.

She opened her mouth slowly.

But it wasn't words what came out, it was a blueish gas that somehow formed a strip.

Annoying prick gasped. He extended his hand to touch it, but I remembered what Bella told me so I pushed his hand back to the table. Hoping the glare I shot to him would be enough to deter any other funny business.

The gas flowed and flowed, until it formed the silhouette of a man. Jared Brenner.

"Chels, hun. You have to let me go."

Chelsea was in tears. "But I need you."

The gas kept flowing from her mouth, but Bella's form was blurry probably because the gas covered her petite frame.

"No Chels, you have to move on. I'll go to rest happy knowing that you loved me, but you have a life to live."

Chelsea was shaking her head, telling him no.

"Please Chels, do it for me."

This time the gas changed and the silhouette was getting more solid. Now it wasn't only his head, but his torso with two strong arms. He extended his hand and touched Chelsea's cheek. While everybody was marveled at the expression of his undying love, I noticed Bella was almost disappearing. I looked to her hands on the table... her left hand vanished!

Jared whispered a desperate plea "Please promise me to live for me."

Chelsea nodded and tried to touch his hand, but the hand she longed to reach turned into gas and flowed to Bella.

I watched with rapt attention how slowly her hands appeared slowly, how her body was turning tangible again.

Chelsea's cries had the others looking out for her, but I couldn't take my eyes of Bella.

Very slowly she was recovering her wits.

Her breathing was steady.

She opened her eyes.

She was with us again.

"Did it go well?" She asked very concerned to Chelsea.

But I answered "I'm sure Chelsea got what she was looking for, but how are you?"

She looked very pale, and I remembered she mentioned she didn't eat. I got closer to her and took her hand in mine. She was too cold for my liking.

"I'm fine, I just need a snack and sleep the whole night through."

"Well, then let me take you out for dinner. What are you in the mood for?" I didn't give her the chance to reject my invitation. What this woman did astonished me. She was so selfless to risk her life like this just to help others to get closure. She deserved whatever she wanted in this world.

She gave me a timid smile and thanked all the presents for supporting Chelsea. She stood up and told me "A burger and fries. Uh and a chocolate milkshake."

In that moment I realized I wanted Bella to be a part of my life.

xxxxxx

**Esme POV (Six months later)**

"Mooom! I can't find my left shoe!" My sweet daughter yelled from her room upstairs. She was really nervous because today she was going to meet Buffy, her father's girlfriend.

"Have you look under the bed?"

"Thanks Mom, you're the best!"

To be honest, I didn't know what to feel. A part of me wanted Charles to suffer the same way he made me suffer, but somehow he redeemed himself in my eyes with the way he doted on Bree. He was a jerk but he was an excellent father.

Bree's seventh birthday was last Tuesday, but because of his work schedule he decided to celebrate until this weekend. He was taking her to the beach to make the introductions less awkward. But Bree was excited, somehow she thought Buffy was a princess. Yeah, right.

The doorbell rang just in time to stop my inner ramblings. Every time I thought about Buffy, I got angry. It wasn't that I had feelings for Charles; I had zero problems with they being together. It was the possibility that she replaced me in Bree's eyes. I couldn't fathom my life without Bree...

Right, the door.

I opened the door, and there he was.

"I hope Bree is ready. It's a long way to the beach and..."

"Good morning Charles. Her things are over that sofa. I'll go to get her."

He dared to put his hand on my arm, but my murderous glare made him drop it.

"You don't have to be so rude. I'm just nervous. It's the first time she's going to stay at the beach house with Buffy, and, well, she doesn't have any experience with kids."

I didn't want to let him know how grateful I was for Buffy's lack of experience; so I just huffed and walked to the stairs.

"Breee! Your father is here."

She came running from her room and jumped right into his arms. "Daddyyyy!"

He hugged and kissed her. Like I said, he was a wonderful father.

She turned to me. "Mommy, I don't want you to be sad."

Shit! I had to smile.

"No baby, it's just that I'm missing you already."

She pushed her father aside and walked to me.

"Oh Mommy! I'm going to miss you too."

"Promise me you're going to listen to your Father and you'll do everything he asks you to."

She was nodding fiercely.

"Yes Mommy. And you promise me you won't be sad."

I hugged her and kissed her head.

"Of course not baby. Be good and have fun."

"Ok Mommy."

"Why don't we call your Momma the moment we get to the beach house, just so she won't miss you too much?" Charles offered.

Bree nodded and kissed me again.

"Bye Mommy! Have fun!"

xxx

Six hours had passed and they hadn't called. Probably Charles forgot he promised me, or maybe the place they went didn't have signal for the phones...

He told they weren't going too far, but maybe they stopped on the way to eat something...

Yeah, probably they went to eat and they'll call as soon as they get into the beach house.

I watched a couple of movies, but I was so tense, that I decided to turn off the TV. Now I was pacing in my room. Why was taking them so long to call?

The phone rang.

Finally.

"Good afternoon. Are you Mrs. Everson?" A male unknown voice asked.

"Yes, well, I was. I'm Esme Platt now."

"Hmm, sorry, but you're listed as the emergency contact of Charles Everson."

"Emergency? Did something happen?"

"Mrs. E... Miss Platt, I want you to come to Saint Joseph. Is the hospital out of the 101."

"Yeah, I know where it is located, but please tell me. What happened?"

"There was an accident on the highway. The driver of a tanker truck lost control of his vehicle and..."

"And?"

"He crushed three cars on his way. Miss Platt we have your husband, a woman and a kid between the injured. We need you to come to the hospital immediately."

Oh God! What the hell happened to my poor baby!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Tissue warning.**

**Esme POV**

I didn't know how I got to the hospital, running around looking for someone to answer my questions. But apparently it was a hell of an accident. People were running around, families trying to get their own answers, doctors and nurses yelling instructions, ambulances coming and going. It was chaos everywhere.

Finally I found a police officer standing alone, he probably could direct me to the one who called me.

"Excuse me officer."

He stood taller, his face wore a sad smile. He surely knew what I was going to ask him for.

"Ma'am."

"I got called, someone told me my daughter... and my ex-husband were involved in the accident."

He pulled a piece of paper from his breast pocket.

"And their name was..."

"Bree Everson, and Charles Everson. There was a woman with them, but I only met her as Buffy, I don't think it was her real name."

"Hmm, yeah. They came here with the first batch. I'm afraid I can't tell you where exactly they are, but that doctor over there. The bald one with thick glasses. He's responsible for the ER, he can tell you more."

"Thanks."

I felt so ill, and the police officer seemed so cold; but I guess he delivered bad news to other families. He must detach himself from the situation in order to work.

The doctor he pointed, was running like crazy from side to side. And I wasn't the only one who wanted his attention. So I steeled myself and ran to his side. I needed answers.

"Doctor, I'm the mother of Bree Everson."

He stood for a second.

"Everson... Everson... A little girl probably six, dark hair?"

I nodded, but my heart was about to get out of my chest.

His eyes softened.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Everson. The girl died in the OR."

My world blew into pieces in that moment. I think I heard the faint voice of the doctor describing more details from the accident, but my mind wasn't really paying attention.

"Your girl arrived unconscious to the hospital. I guess the only consolation you have is that she didn't suffer. But I think your husband is still fighting for his life in the OR."

This I had to hear.

"He's still alive?" Talk about injustice. My sweet girl, the very definition of innocence, died when her light was the reason for me to being alive; and the monster who made my life miserable he had the chance to live and continue spreading misery!

The Doctor nodded, but he seemed uncomfortable about something.

"Err, I don't know how to say this, but they were accompanied by a woman. A young woman." The doctor thought Charles was cheating... well he was before.

"We are divorced. I'm sure you're talking about his new girlfriend, Buffy."

The doctor seemed relieved.

"Well, hmm, I don't know if you're interested; and I don't know if I should tell you this, but no one had come here to ask for her. Her name really was Buffy, Buffy Sanders. She also didn't make it."

I'd like to say that I felt bad for her, but I didn't find it in me to give a shit about her. My world crumbled, so if the whore who disrespected my marriage died, well, one whore less in the world.

"Can I see my baby?"

The poor doctor sighed.

"They're cleaning her, I'll let a nurse take you to her when she's ready."

I got out a tissue and dabbed my eyes. I did my best to keep my composure. I found a seat besides and old man, who looked like his world also shattered. He had that lost look on his face, so I sat and didn't bother him. A couple of nurses were talking behind us, their simple chatter about how handsome was one of the EMT distracted me, but then they changed the topic.

"And they say The driver died instantly."

"I can't imagine how it was possible. I'm sure the families will sue the truck company. Keeping him driving 36 hours straight! No wonder the poor man had a heart attack!"

Oh, so that's how it happened.

"The first car had a little girl, and the second one a baby! I can't imagine the pain those parents are going through now!"

In that moment the stoic man sitting by my side, lost it and cried.

"It wasn't only the baby, it was all of them!" I passed him a tissue.

He turned to me. "It was my son's birthday. He, his wife and the baby were going back to their home. And now..."

I patted his arm. I knew his pain. My sweet Bree... Now who will come running to the kitchen to ask me for cookies? Who will need my kisses to keep the monster in the closet away?

An older nurse came to us and called me. "Mrs. Everson?"

"Yes?"

"Please, come with me. I'm afraid your husband..."

"Ex-husband."

"Your ex-husband didn't make it. I'm so sorry."

"Can I see my daughter?"

"This way."

She guide me to a room in the basement. There were metal cots with bodies covered by sheets. A silent weeping woman was crying besides a body on one corner.

"This is your daughter." And she lifted the sheet.

My sweet angel was so pale. I took her little hand and it was so cold... I lost it and cried.

XXXXX

**EPOV**

"Come on Alice! We're late!"

Today was our sixth month anniversary, and I wanted to buy Bella a present. It was too soon for the kind of present I wanted for her... but maybe a little necklace or a bracelet would be fine.

"Coming!"

Alice was Bella's guardian and mentor. The only friend and family she still had alive. She was a tiny spitfire in her late thirties. She lived with Bella's family for a long time because Renee, Bella's mother, was Alice's mentor. Then she got married, but she still cared a lot for Bella, like an older sister.

The first day I met her, Bella told me Alice could see the future. I was so tempted to laugh, but being with Bella open my mind to a lot of new things, so I gave Alice a chance. I was surprised to find a bubbly fashionable woman who told me to not eat fish at the dinner I was invited the next day because it would mess with my stomach. She was right. My editor ate the fish, and he got food poisoning. Since then I listen to Alice's advice.

"So where are we going?"

"Tiffany's?"

"Nah. I know a little jewelery. It's more Bella's style."

I trusted Alice's taste. She was extremely fashionable and she knew Bella better than me. The place she took me has a bit of everything, so we looked around for a while.

"What do you think about this necklace?" It was a platinum necklace with a butterfly pendant made of little white diamonds.

"Oh no! Not butterflies!" Alice said panicked.

"Why?"

"Renee had a vision once, that great danger would approach Bella when butterflies came to her."

It was on moments like this, that I had a hard time getting used to their 'supernatural' side. My brain craved for logic, and I didn't see anything wrong with the pendant, but if it was going to cause trouble...

"Ok. What about this one?"

It was a cat pendant, equally made of diamonds, but time they were blue.

"Oh it's beautiful Edward! She's going to love it."

While I was paying for the necklace, Alice got quiet, her eyes looking at the air.

"What's wrong Alice?"

"I got a feeling that Bella is going to get in trouble."

"What kind of trouble?"

"I don't know. Please, promise you'll keep her best interest at heart, always."

"I promise Alice. You know I love her."


	4. Chapter 4

**EPOV**

**ONE MONTH LATER**

"Ready Marcus?"

Bella's sweet voice called to the old man seated besides her. This one was one of the few of her clients that I liked. He always asked how she was feeling before the session, and thanked her afterwards.

"Only if you are Bella." He said while patting her hand.

Bella closed her eyes and hummed mildly. I've been through enough sessions to relax along with her. She told me that it helped her to get in trance if all the people present were quiet and relaxed. I've noted that when the principal person involved with the spirit was relaxed, Bella got in touch with it faster and the manifestation was stronger. She also told me that the gas I saw coming out of her mouth, was ectoplasm. It came from her. Her body lent a part of her matter to give the spirit the chance to show its presence.

She told me that her mother was like her, but while her mother was able to look at the spirits while not being in trance, Bella has the stronger manifestations. It was a unique ability. Alice told me that she witnessed once how one spirit got a corporeal form to give a hug to his daughter when I told her about Jared's hand. We both knew how this kind of manifestations took a toll on Bella's body. She fainted or lost consciousness for hours. That's why we always monitored the sessions.

"Dear Marcus, are you there?"

Old Mrs. Jones, Marcus' wife, was a kind spirit. She always was brief and only encouraged Marcus to live for their children.

"Oh Didyme! You look so beautiful like the day I married you."

"Are you taking your medicine?"

"But I want to go with you."

"Don't be a child. Our children would miss you. Soon your time will come and you'll be here, but until then, you have to be good for them."

"Dear Didi. You know I feel so lonely..."

"I know. But it isn't your time yet. You promise me to take of yourself, otherwise you'll get sick and still won't be with me because it's not your time."

Marcus downed his head in shame.

"Right. I miss you Didi."

"I miss you too, but be patient and enjoy our children. I have to go. Behave."

She blew him a kiss and vanished.

Marcus was crying, but happier.

I carried Bella to an old sofa that Alice had ready for her. She needed to lay for a while with her feet up and a blanket covering her. I led Marcus to the door and he thanked us for giving him the chance to talk to his Didi.

Now, while Bella rested, I got to the dinning room to talk to Alice and her husband Jasper.

"How is she?" Alice asked, while giving a beer.

"She fell asleep. I noticed she's getting more tired with each session. And we're talking that Mrs. Jones is one of the easiest, her appearance is brief and she never tries to force her presence to one more physical."

"Yeah, I've noticed it too. I tried to convince her to go to the doctor, but she said she just need a couple of days off."

Hmm. Maybe I could take her to the Bahamas... I just gave my last chapter to the editor.

"Maybe we could take some time, take her to a beach."

Alice nodded in approval.

"Yeah, I'm already seeing how it will make her feel better. I think that since that strong manifestation with Chelsea Volturi she started to feel weaker, but you know how stubborn she is. She said it was nothing and she started to take vitamins, like it was the key to her strength."

Yeah, I've noticed that Bella is quite stubborn. She's so sure she will solve anything with vitamins and her avoidance of the problem.

"I'm going to talk with her in the morning, just need to set some dates with my editor and then we'll see how much time I can take."

Jasper snorted. "Your editor as in Mr. I-wanna-fuck-all-the-ladies Seth Clearwater."

"Hmm."

Alice smiled. "Did you really talk to him about his crush with Bella?"

"Yeah, but he really don't have a crush on Bella. He has a hard on for every woman he sees. Included you, Alice."

Jasper laugh stopped. "What?"

Alice threaded her fingers on his blond locks. "He tried to flirt with me the day we met, but the boy is so easy to mess with."

"He's not a boy, he's older than me!"

"Really? He look live twenty-five."

"Yeah, it happens every time he shaves. But he look so funny with his attempt of a beard."

"Are you talking about Seth again?" Bella stood at the door of the dinning room, but then she walked to me.

"How do you feel sweetheart?" I kissed her temple and pulled her to my lap.

"Better. Maybe I really should see a doctor. What time do you have to leave today?"

Bella still lived with Alice and Jasper. Still. I've tried to get her to move with me, but I was too chicken shit to ask her. And Alice protectiveness make it harder. She was sure she would know when the time for Bella to move with me came.

"I just wanted to see you were fine; I want to talk to my editor tomorrow and then I'll be back." I said while looking at Alice and Jasper. Now that they knew about my plans they surely talk to Bella about taking a vacation. It was a team effort to get this woman to do something for her.

xxxx

"Where are you taking me?"

Bella had never liked surprises, but this time I got my way and blindfolded her beautiful face. We were at the doors of Carly's, our favorite restaurant.

"Surprise honey!" I took the blindfold out. "I thought we needed a night for just the two of us."

Her gorgeous smile showed me I was doing fine.

I took her to the hostess booth, where one old friend of mine shall lead us to our table.

"Our usual please Lucy."

Lucy smiled, but her eyes were fixated on Bella; despite her long night sleep and the quiet day she had, the black circles under her eyes made her look sick. Lucy turned to me asking me with her eyes how was Bella faring.

I nodded making her understand that I was dealing with it.

"Mr. Cullen, Miss Swan." Lucy said while pushing Bella's chair out. "May I offer you a glass of..."

"Bring us a glass of lemonade and water, please."

Bella looked at me, she didn't like to drink water with her dinner.

"It's for you honey. I have to drive later. Lucy please bring us our special."

Lucy took the menus and left.

"You're nervous. What is going on?" Bella pushed her chair a bit far from me, like she was expecting my answer to be something she wouldn't like. Truth is, I didn't know if she would like my plan for a vacation.

She bit her lip because I took a minute to answer her.

"It's nothing bad."

"Hmm. Why don't you let me be the judge of that?"

Now I believed she was tapping her feet under the table.

"It's just, I think, I made plans to take a vacation. Imagine, just you and me, the sun shining, the warm water of the sea at our feet..."

"Hmm."

"I think we need to change scenery for a while. You're stressed, I'm stressed."

"I'm not..."

"Yes you are honey. Be honest, you're feeling tired all the time. I see the dark circles under your eyes."

She looked down, ashamed.

"But you are writing your book."

"I already talked to Seth. We have three weeks to go wherever you want. I'd suggest a beach, but maybe you want a little cabin in the woods."

She gave me her mischievous smile. "And if I want to go to Paris?"

I exhaled. I didn't want to take her to Paris this time, but if that's what she really wants...

"If you really want it..."

She giggled. "No, I got it. You and Alice think you are so subtle. I know I've felt weak, I'm tired all the time and I've notice how pale I look. It's just... I really want to help all these people. Look to Marcus, how much he improves his health when he talks to Didi. And Chelsea..."

"Please, don't talk about her. She's a spoiled brat used to get whatever she wants. I'm aware that you love to help people, but sweetheart, you have to think about you. I don't want you to feel sick. I'm worried, and don't let me start on how much you scare Alice."

I pulled her face to mine and kissed her. Just a tiny kiss on her lips.

"Ok, We're taking a few days off. Where did you made reservations?"

What? How did she knew?

"Oh Edward, you're so obvious! If only you had seen your face when I said I wanted to go to Paris. Besides, I know you. I'm sure you already planned where are we going to stay and probably..."

I kissed her to shut her up. She was about to ruin my surprise. I was lucky Lucy told the waiter what was our special, and our food was served in front of us.

We ate and talked about other things, just enjoying each other. How tempted I was to ask her to move with me... but now it wasn't the time.

"Hmm, Bella I brought you a gift. You know, to clue you on where we're going."

I put a small gift bag on the table, hoping she liked it and get a clue of what I planned for our three-week vacation.

She was so curious, opening the bag carefully... and she blushed.

"Oh my God! Edward, I don't think I can wear this! I can't pull it off."

"You'll look great honey. Imagine: three weeks, just you and me, the sun, sand on our feet. We're going to Costa Rica."

She smiled and kissed me harder. I guess we're going to have a good time with the tiny bikini I bought her.

xxx

**Esme POV**

I heard the shuffling noise of the mailman pushing the mail through the mailbox. Great, now I was awake.

Another miserable day in my miserable life. Maybe today I finally would go out to buy groceries. Maybe.

I've been locked in my house since the funeral. I didn't see the point in going out. I had no reason to get out of my house, except for the day I went to our lawyer for the reading of Charles' will. He left all his belongings to me, well, and to Bree but given the circumstances all went to me. Like money would bring her back.

The telephone rang again but I didn't answer.

'Esme, it's Carmen. This is the third time I call you. Answer damn it! I know you're feeling sad, but you need to get out of this depression. You know what? This is it. As soon as I get back I'm going to get you. We're going out, even if it's to the park to look at the birds. Enjoy your last days of brooding because I'm coming back tomorrow, and I'm going for you.'

My sweet Carmen. One of my few real friends. But she doesn't understand. Her daughter Emily is alive.

Maybe I should take a shower.

xxxx

"Wake up!"

Uh?

I felt how my blanket was pulled from me, and a black shadow pushed me out of my bed.

"Come on Esme, I have a surprise for you."

Oh, it was Carmen. Wait, what is she doing here? She said she would come back tomorrow.

"Don't tell me you were sleeping all this time? I called you yesterday! Now go and take a bath, we're going to have lunch with a someone I met."

"But, but, I don't feel like going out!"

"Don't pout. Go!"

Perhaps a bath would help.

xxx

"Ok Esme, this friend is a woman I met before going to Florida with Emily. She had a situation similar to your loss."

"Carmen, I don't want to join a group..."

"No, this is different. She lost her husband and she was devastated. But she met someone who helped her."

"A doctor? psychiatrist?"

"No, it's quite different. Come."

She pushed me through the other tables at the restaurant, to led me to one very pale woman with jet black hair.

"Carmen, so glad you came!"

"Hi Chelsea. This is my friend Esme Platt. You'll find that you have so much in common..."


	5. Chapter 5

**EPOV**

The soft sand tickled my feet and my back, but I didn't want to move. I was holding my love in my arms... but she moved around a lot when she was sleeping. We came here very early in the morning and started making out in the beach, taking advantage of our loneliness. But soon the families came to the beach and Bella fell asleep again.

We had spent the first three days locked inside our room. But then Bella wanted to do some sight-seeing, so we got a tour on the volcanoes and the beaches. Costa Rica is a wonderful country. She smiled with the sloths and she loved the sense of peace she got on the volcanoes, I didn't get why.

The dark circles disappeared from her eyes, and I was sure she got back at least three pounds. She wasn't so happy with this new development, but even Alice told her how bad her clothes looked on her. My girl was going back to her healthy self. Now if only I could convince her to work less... I knew money wasn't an issue. Her parents insurance left her a healthy rent, and she lived with Alice. If she agreed to move with me, she would never had to spend a dime, which I'm sure she won't like. But that was the truth. I have enough money to get us to live a comfortable life without working anymore. And I'm still writing and getting royalties from my pasts books.

But I knew it wasn't the money what made her work. No. It was that need to help anyone she can, but it was undermining her health little by little.

"Edward, let's go back to the room."

She pushed me out of the towel, and I smiled. She was still asleep.

"Bella, love, I'm completely out of the towel. Do you really want to go back?"

"Eh? Oh Edward! I'm so sorry! I didn't want to push you"

"Shh, it's ok. You were sleeping."

"But you were in the sand... and the sun its..."

"Do you want us back to the room? You still want to go to the zoo, right?"

"Sure, but I'm so sorry. I'm sure it was uncomfortable for you. Look you're all red!"

Well, it was true. My left leg was red and my arm was also sunburned.

"I've had worst. So the zoo?"

"Sure, but first I want to give you a bath and maybe apply some aloe. It will burn later." She pulled me up and went to give me a full body massage... if you know what I mean. I loved when my love spoiled me.

xxx

"Are you sure you're fine with room service? Bella! What are you..."

Ha! I knew my girl was grateful for this vacation but God! Every time she sucked my... not only my blood went down. My brain cells... Oh God!

"So good."

I looked down, her head was bobbing up and down, left to right. And I was getting so close...

"Bellaaa I'm going to..."

Shit! My girl gives the best blowjobs.

It took me two minutes to regain the control of my brain. Damn Bella!

"Did you like it?"

"I loved it." She stood up and pushed me to the bed, maybe it was time to reciprocate... but I had a plan, gotta stick to it. The gift box was on the nightstand.

"Wait!"

She stopped. Her face full of curiosity, she knew I would never reject sex with her.

"I've been waiting for the chance to ask you something, and if I'm honest, all this vacation had an ulterior motive."

"Really?"

"Bella, I want you with me the whole time. I want to go to sleep with you in my arms, to wake up to your rumpled hair, hear your snores..."

"Hey! I don't snore!" She threw me a pillow.

"What I mean is that I love you and you love me."

I think it was time.

"Would you like to move in with me?"

"Oh."

Ok, now is when she was supposed to scream her approval and we got to have a night of passionate sex...

"Of course I will move in with you. It's just... it will be the first time I will live without Alice."

"I talked to her, she helped to plan all of this. Here, she even chose the key chain."

I gave her the Hello Kitty key chain. Who would know a beautiful girl with certain penchant for the supernatural loved all of Hello Kitty.

She put the key chain on her nightstand and jumped to me.

"I love you so much Edward!"

Now it was the time to reciprocate...

xxx

**Esme POV**

"Are you sure it's here?"

The house where Chelsea was taking me was located? in an upper class neighborhood, but still not rich enough for the likes of Chelsea.

This past week since I met her was full of surprises. We'd been talking since that day at lunch. Carmen was right, we have so much in common. Chelsea really understood how the world ended the moment I lost my darling Bree. She felt it when she lost her husband. So when she told me there was a woman who really gave you the chance to talk to your gone loved ones, honestly, I thought she was crazy. But she took me to one of her friends, who attended a séance with her and he confirmed how Jared came and talked to Chelsea and how he caressed her face for one last time... if only I could talk to Bree one last time! Imagine my peace if I could find she was happy, wherever she went after she died. So of course I begged her to take me to this miracle woman.

Chelsea warned me that Isabella didn't accept all the people to came to her and that it wasn't a matter of money though it wasn't an issue for me. I would pay whatever she wanted for this. We decided to talk to Isabella first, to let her know how my life ended the moment Bree died. Chelsea thought it was the best way to get her to agree for one séance.

"Yeah, this was the place where I met her. She lives in that white house, with some family, a sister or cousin?"

Chelsea, despite her noble intentions, wasn't very bright and didn't remember the important things. I mean, if this Isabella was a mother she would surely understand my pain. But Chelsea wasn't sure of anything. She thought Isabella was dating one of the writers of her father publishing company, but when I suggested the possibility that he may be a cousin or a brother, she couldn't deny it.

I parked the car in front of the big white house. The curtains on the front window shook, so I was sure they knew we were here.

"Come on Chelsea. They already saw us."

We walked to the door, where a petite woman opened the door.

"Good afternoon ladies. May I help you with something?"

"Hmm, right. We're looking for Bella Swan. I'm Chelsea Volturi, I was a client of hers and I wanted to talk to her for a bit."

Despite Chelsea's excess of confidence, the sour look this woman gave us made me think that our plans to talk to this Isabella would be fruitless.

"Come in, please. Now let me tell you that Bella is on a holiday with her boyfriend, she won't be coming back for a couple of weeks."

We came into a homely living room. Somehow I thought the house would be full of masks and spiritualist paraphernaliabut in reality it was normal.

"Can I offer you something? Water, a glass of lemonade perhaps? I'm Alice Whitlock by the way."

She offered us her hand to shake but when she touched mine I felt the change in her attitude. She became less friendlier.

"Well, like I told you, Bella is spending a few weeks out of the country. It was a very needed rest."

"I can imagine that. See, I know what she does for living and believe that is a stressful work. But I recently lost my daughter in an accident."

Her eyes became sad, I knew I had to tell her my story to have a chance to talk to this Isabella.

"I'm terribly sorry to hear it."

"It really left me devastated. She was my only reason to live..."

I elbowed Chelsea, it was her turn to talk.

"And I told her how wonderful was Bella when I lost my husband. Remember how lost I was? But now I found peace, and I want the same for my friend. They say there's no bigger pain than to lose a child..."

She seemed to be in deep thought, she looked at me for the corner of her eye and considered something she saw, and finally she said.

"Look, Isabella's last sessions were pretty demanding and she became ill after that. She's going to be out of the country for another twenty days, but if you still feel the need to talk to her, I can arrange a date. I don't remember how it was with you Chelsea, but Isabella talks to her clients and then she takes a few days to see if she can contact their loved ones. Not everybody wants to talk back to the living." She gave me a stern glance.

"Really? I didn't know it worked like that." Chelsea said.

"Yeah, in your particular case, your husband was already trying to find a way to communicate with you. It was easier to get in touch with him. But with a child it may be difficult."

Oh no! She won't deprive me of the chance to talk to my daughter.

"Why?"

"Because they're not aware of death. They still don't grasp the concept. Did your daughter experienced a loss, someone close to the family, a grandparent or a dear pet?"

"No, not really. My ex husband had a... he wasn't the most patient man, so he didn't allow her to have a pet. We divorced a few months ago, and Bree wanted a kitten so we were planning on adopting one. But no, she never experienced a loss. But she was aware of the concept, her favorite movie was 'the lion king', she cried when Mufasa died and I explained what it meant to be dead for her..."

"Well, then we have to hope she is looking out for you."

"Why won't she? I'm her mother!"

Chelsea patted my arm, I needed to get in control of my temper.

"I understand how difficult is all of this for you, but I only want to warn you that the communication isn't guaranteed. We don't know what really happens when someone dies. We only know that some people talk to Bella and some don't."

I had the feeling that I blew my chances of getting in contact with Bree.

"But we could come once Isabella is back from her vacation, right?"

Chelsea tried to make amends. The woman, Alice, was thinking. You could see in her face how concentrated she was.

"You know money isn't an issue..." Chelsea insisted.

Somehow, I didn't think it was about the money for this Alice. She really looked concerned about Isabella.

"Chelsea, you know it isn't an issue for Bella. If she can help, she will do it. Why don't you wait until she's back and then talk to her?"

But her eyes were completely saying how much she wished we didn't come back. I stood and hurried to the door. I knew we had better chances if we leave and come back later.

"Sure. It was nice to talk to you, Alice."

I gave her my hand again, looking her in the eye. She had to know how determined I was to talk to my daughter.

"See you soon, Alice. By the way, my name is Esme Platt."

She closed the door, and I made a sign to Chelsea to be quiet while we heard behind the closed-door. Sure enough, Alice called someone on the phone. I knew I made an awful impression.

"Hi Edward! Listen, someone came looking for Bella. Aha. A new client. I didn't like the vibe she gave me. But you know Bella... of course she will want to help her! It's a mother that lost her daughter! Yeah, but listen, I want you to think about it. Because when I touched her hand I had a vision of a child, a girl. I don't what it means, but I don't like it. She's weird. Too intense..."

I pushed Chelsea to the car, I knew it. This Isabella would like to help, that was all I needed to hear!

* * *

Hi! Sorry for taking so long. I thought I finally found a beta, but she has lots of exams and homework, so she declined. So I will post the next chapter tomorrow, it's almost finished.


	6. Chapter 6

**EPOV**

"Alice, I got a surprise for you!"

As soon as Jasper opened the door, Bella ran to hug her almost sister.

Jasper shrugged his shoulders and went out with me to get all our baggage inside the house.

"She's moving with you, right?"

"Yeah, I finally asked her."

"See, I don't know why you were so nervous. We told you se was going to say yes. The poor girl didn't know how else hint to you that she was ready for more."

"Really?"

Jasper smiled and nodded, kicking the door closed.

" So when will she, you know, start packing or whatever she's planning to do?"

"We discussed it and she wants to pack immediately, but she want to stay here 'til next weekend. She wants to take Alice to a spa for a whole weekend pampering or something girly like that."

The squeals from the other side of the house were hurting our ears.

"I guess Alice approves."

"She wants Bella to be happy. And so do I. Did you mentioned the possible client to Bella?"

"Only that a friend of Chelsea wanted to talk to her. I'm concerned about this one. If she gave Alice a bad vibe..."

"Yeah, but she also had a bad vibe about Alec, and he's one of her clients that I like."

"True. But Alec is just a mischievous young man. He just finished high school! And this sixth sense never told anything wrong about Chelsea, and I think she was one of the worst clients."

"Nah, she's just so used to get what she wants without any effort. Deep inside she has good intentions, she doesn't want to harm anyone."

"I'm not so sure... The girls are coming, what did Alice think we should say to Bella about this woman?"

"Alice wants to tell her, don't worry. She thinks once she tells Bella why she's so cautious about this Esme, she will understand."

"Ok."

Bella was back with Alice, they brought a tequila bottle to toast.

"I think we still have some champagne in the..."

Alice interrupted Jasper by making some strange signs.

"No, I think this occasion deserves something stronger. Edward finally found the balls to ask her!"

She was making those strange faces to Jasper, so I considered to better not acknowledge her comment.

"So Bella, there's something we want to talk you about."

Bella came to seat on my lap, but her eyes were intrigued by Jasper's words.

"Sure, but you know I'm coming to visit all the time, right? It isn't like I move to the other side of the country."

"Hmm, we'll miss you Bella. But there's something else we want to talk you about."

Alice was exasperated with Jasper way of mulling over so she said

"A woman came looking out for you."

"Right, Edward told me something about a friend of Chelsea."

"Well, Bella we want you to really think about it before you accept."

"Why? I feel fine, I think I even have a tan for once in my life!"

The three of us were looking rather nervous. It was difficult to know what to say when we knew that as soon as she figured out this was a mother looking to talk with her child she would say yes.

"Honey, it isn't only about your health; though we want you to take it slow for a while."

She shot me a glare. I tried to kick Alice feet discreetly. We needed her subtlety to convince Bella.

"Bella I had a vision about her. You know when I shake hands with your prospects to feel their intentions."

"Yes."

"Well, this woman is too intense. She's truly devastated for her loss but she's not dealing with it in the proper way."

"Most of my clients can't deal, that's why they come to see me."

"But this woman... I can't put it on words. When I shook her hand I had a vision of a little girl, but she just lost her daughter. I don't understand what does it means."

"Alice, maybe it means that with our help, she will rebuild her life and she will have a daughter in the future."

"No, it was so negative and sad."

"But you said the same about Alec."

I looked to Jasper, I knew Bella will never forget the Alec's incident.

"But Alec was too young and lost the only person that treated him right. You can't deny that he pulled some pranks at the beginning..."

"But never with bad intentions. Just little jokes."

Right, little jokes. I'm sure she thought it was a little joke when Alec unscrew the legs on her chair.

"Don't look at me like that Edward. I know I was mad at him for a while, but he's just a boy..."

"He's an adult. He could buy us drinks in Mexico."

"Or in France." Jasper pointed.

"Ok. I get it. Let me talk to this woman first. Maybe her loved one doesn't want to talk to her."

Alice jumped from her seat.

"Exactly! When I told her that was a possibility she got so mad. Bella, when people come to ask for a favor they have to be gentle to get it. But this woman got so angry... I don't know. I don't like her."

"Let me talk to her Alice. If I don't like her, then I can say no."

Alice was quiet, Bella was winning this argument.

"Love, you'll talk to her if she comes... but you have to promise to work less. Once a week seems reasonable."

She was about to argue when Jasper told her. "We just relinquished our argument about this woman, you have to give us something. Look at you, it took you two weeks to recover."

Bella seemed in deep thought.

I massaged her back, helping her to relax. She needed to value her health.

"Ok, but I have to talk with this woman."

"Her name is Esme Platt. And if she comes back I'll call you."

"When did you tell her I would be back?"

"In another week. I knew what Edward planned to ask, so I thought we needed the time for packing and setting everything in your new house."

"Well, aren't we supposed to toast? Jasper the shots please."

**EsmePOV**

The possibility of talking to my baby again gave me a new reason to live. I bathed, I mowed the lawn, cleaned the house. I was back on the game. Well, not completely. Carmen kept asking me to go out with her at least for a coffee, but I wasn't in the mood. I know I should be thankful to her, she was the one who introduced me to Chelsea after all.

I need to finish this absurd grocery shopping. I mean, I only bought food for me. I could ask Carmen to come... but how do I tell her to not bring her daughter? I'm now ready to look at her, playing with dolls and calling her Mommy mommy. No, I can't. But maybe to brunch... I suppose Emily would be at school. Yeah, brunch with Carmen looks fine.

Then, I walked through the next aisle and what do you think I found? Alice Whitlock with a petite young woman. Could it be...

"Good morning Alice."

She looked so surprised. I'm sure I was the last person she expected to see.

"Oh good morning Esme."

Now she looked nervous, but she had to be polite and introduce me to her friend.

"This is Isabella, my best friend and almost sister. Bella this is Esme Platt."

The way she said my name made me think she already talk to Isabella about me. I hoped to make a better impression this time.

"Glad to meet you Isabella. I heard so much about you."

I offered her my hand, she shook it with reticence. She was looking at me like she was searching for something.

"Yeah, I think Alice mentioned you're friends with Chelsea Volturi, right?"

Straight to the point. I think I like you Isabella.

"Yeah, we share something in common, we lost someone we loved."

Her eyes bulged, perhaps I said too much too soon? I have to tone it down.

"And we have a friend in common, you know how is this. We went out for coffee and we simply talked about it. She's doing great now."

"Right."

Ok, time to ask for an appointment, before the other one pushes her to leave.

"I went looking out for you but Alice mentioned you were in a vacation."

"Yeah, I needed some time to recover, I was a bit ill."

Well, I see you perfectly now. All tanned and smiling.

"Do you think you can make some time to have a little conversation?"

Damn! I needed Chelsea for this. I don't know how to call this thing. Does she gives appointments? Or she goes to your house?

"Hmm, well, I'm moving out to a new house... why don't you call me and we can make a date for next week?"

Yes!

"Sure, let me take your number..."

"Here's my card."

Better! Now I have her address...but she's moving. Well, her cell phone it's just fine.

"Ok, I'll call you."

"Right. See you soon Esme and it was nice to meet you."

"Thanks Isabella, it was really nice to meet you too. See you soon Alice."

"See you soon Esme."

Ha! Take it Alice! In your face!

I let them walk to the next aisle, left my shopping cart, and ran to hear them.

"See Bella! I swear her smile was like the Big Bad Wolf."

"I just saw a nervous woman. Did you saw her eyes, they were full of pain."

"Oh Bella!"

"Let me talk to her. I know you'll be worried, so I want you to be with me while I talk to her."

"Like I would leave you alone with her."

Doesn't matter Alice. She gave me a date.


	7. Chapter 7

**EPOV**

"Don't you trust me? I've been good the last two times..."

Ha! Like I would be that dumb. Fool me once... I turned all the chairs upside down, I pushed the legs of the chairs to check they were firmly screwed. Alec Thompson would not make me fall flat on my butt again.

"See! I told you I didn't mess with the chairs."

I stopped immediately. 'With the chairs'. So he messed with something else. I stood in front of him, hoping my 6'2'' frame looked frightening enough to make him cave and tell me what did he do this time.

He looked up to me, not intimidated at all. Damn this kid!

"You know you make Bella's work more difficult with your jokes, right?" Because Bella was the only person he respected.

"I know, that's why I didn't..."

Bella came into the room with a bright smile.

"Alec, are you messing with my boyfriend again?"

He blushed and stared at his feet like they had all the answers to the problems of the world.

"What did you do this time?" she asked, then she reached for the glass of water that was resting on the table...and Alec ran and took it from her.

"No! It's not just water!"

I turned my most furious glare to him, but he just smiled.

"I just put a tiny bit of salt on it."

"Define tiny bit." I was a fool to leave him alone in the room for two minutes!

"Two or three tablespoons."

Bella smiled softly. She really knew how to take advantage of Alec's crush on her.

"Alec, you need to apologize to Edward." He looked at her, pleading with his eyes. Yeah, that not seated fine with him. He was a bit jealous that I had Bella, but he knew he was too young for her. Besides, I wasn't the only target of his jokes. Jasper found that the chocolate Alec offered to him was in fact a very potent laxative. Alec also had a soft spot for Alice.

"Sorry Edward. I promise I will never tamper with your drinks."

Aha. Like I didn't know what that really meant. My drinks will be fine, he was going to find something else to do. And the boy was extremely intelligent. It was a shame he was left at the care of his irresponsible parents. They lived with their Aunt Jane, the only person who cared for him. When she died a few months ago, Alec went into a rebellious phase. His parents didn't care as long as they found the money for their liquor. Alec almost dropped school and lost his chance at Cornell with a full ride scholarship. His parents didn't care. That's when he started to dream about his aunt. She told him there was a hidden treasure in the house and she was pushing him to find it. She guided him to Bella, and in every session she gave him a clue in exchange of proof that he was doing fine at school. Brilliant if you asked me.

I was giving him the stink eye when Bella pushed him into a chair.

"Ok. You know the drill Alec. Your grades please."

Alec pushed a folder into the table, where he kept his grades and a letter from his career advisor. We were pushing him to a late application to the university of South Florida., which always was his second option. He wanted to get away from his parents, and honestly, everybody supported this idea. I took the folder, he really did great this period.

"Congratulations Alec."

I gave him a look, Bella smiled to him and he was beaming. Damn kids and their crushes!

I read the letter out loud. The advisor told us that the procedure was going fine and, given he kept this grades, he would be joining USF next semester.

"Oh Alec! Your aunt is gonna be so happy!"

Bella pushed my glass with salted water to the side and relaxed. She was eager to let Aunt Jane to find out how great Alec was doing.

xxx

It was weird. Bella took too much time in the bathroom. She never did that. I was going to give her five more minutes before I knocked. God forbid I interrupted her beauty nightly regime. Oh too many things to get used to!

This week she moved in but she and Alice spent the whole weekend on a spa not so far from here. Jasper brought her back on Sunday night a bit too drunk for my taste. But she needed that girly time with Alice. The next day she was distant and I grew worried that she regretted the move. Jasper told me that Alice was also a bit sad, and we blame it on the moving and we decided to let it rest for a few days, in hopes to let it fade. She slowly returned to her happy self, and today with the way she teased Alec I thought things went back to normal.

I heard a noise in the bathroom. She was sobbing.

"Bella, love, are you feeling fine?" I knocked at the door.

She sniffed and said "Yes."

Right. "Bella, why don't open the door, let me hold you."

I heard some scrubbing and then she opened the door. She was crying.

"Oh Bella, tell me what is wrong? Is it something that I did?"

That was the only valuable advice Jasper gave me. Always assume it's your fault. He said it always worked for him and Alice.

But Bella started to cry harder.

"Shh, shh. Love, tell me what's bothering you."

She put a box on my lap,but I didn't want to let her go.

She opened it and she dropped a white plastic thingy in the counter.

It was a pregnancy test. A negative pregnancy test.

"Oh."

That was my brilliant answer. Bella started to talk between sobs.

"I was supposed to have my period when we were on Costa Rica."

I nodded and gave her a tissue.

"But when it didn't come, I started to think that I was... that maybe I was..."

"You thought we were pregnant."

She smiled between the tears.

"Yes. And when we came back I got an appointment with the Ob-gyn... but the sooner I got it is next Wednesday. And I couldn't tell Alice because... you know."

Oh right. Alice met Jasper when they were nineteen. She got pregnant and they married. Bella's parents helped them to continue through college, but Alice's pregnancy went wrong and she lost the baby along with her capacity to bear another one. So, it was a touchy subject.

"I bought the pregnancy test and Alice found it. That was why we both got drunk. I took it and found I wasn't pregnant."

Now her sobs got bigger.

"Bella, baby. Did you want to be pregnant?"

"No. Yes. I don't know! For a second I was scared, we never had mentioned plans for the future. And, well, it took you so long to ask me to move in with you..."

Oh shit.

"Baby, I didn't ask before, because I was sure you would say no. But I want you to know that I want everything with you. Of course I plan to marry you some day, and to have kids and maybe a cat because they're more independent and I'm very careless..."

She put her lovely hands in my face and she kissed me. A very satisfying kiss.

"Edward you always know what to say. You have the right phrase to brighten my day."

That merited another long satisfying kiss.

"That's why I want to help that poor woman, Esme Platt."

"Uh?!"

"You see how sad I am because I feel like I lost a baby, though I know it was only the idea of the baby. And we can plan to have one in the future. But that woman had her daughter for a few marvelous years. She bore the baby in her womb, then she nurtured her as she grew... imagine the pain the poor woman is suffering! I have to give her peace."

With her brief speech I knew our battle to get rid of Esme Platt was lost.

"But I want to be present in every session. And Alice too. We don't trust that woman."

"Sure baby."

**Esme POV**

"Are you sure? Because it doesn't look right to me."

Carmen was at my house, having brunch with me. We were discussing what to do with Charles' house. He left it to me, but I didn't want it. His lawyer brought me the keys, and asked me what I wanted to do. So I went there to see it. To my utter surprise, I found lots of pictures of me on the walls. It seems that Buffy wasn't a jealous girl. I also found a letter from her parents that came into the mail that day, and we were discussing to open it. Carmen was against it.

"But what if it says something important. I didn't saw them at Charles funeral. Worst, I didn't ask if she had a funeral, who knows where they buried her!"

She got quiet and I decided to open it.

_'Buffy, We decided to extend our vacation in the Bahamas for another month. If you want to reach us you could call Amelia and she will give us the message. Love, Mom.'_

"That's it?" Carmen asked confused.

"Yes. And it's dated a week ago. Seems like they don't know their daughter died."

"How terrible! Who could be this Amelia? We have to find her and tell her..."

She was right.

xxx

"I can't understand how could they..."

"I know! I am disgusted. How could they be so cold towards their daughter?"

Turns out Amelia was the housekeeper. She swore she already told them, but apparently their trip was more important than Buffy.

"Maybe it's their way to deal."

"How? They're ignoring the fact that their daughter died! How could someone do that?"

"Maybe they're in denial. You know if we pretend it didn't happen, then it didn't happen."

"I would never do that!"

"No, you're obsessing with it."

"What?"

"You're the polar opposite of them. Look how you got so stalkerish to get an appointment with this Swan girl."

I got quiet. I never thought my conduct could be considered stalkerish.

"Look, I'm sorry. But you have to accept that you're not acting normal."

I sighed.

"Probably you're right, Carmen."

She smiled to me. "You are normally sweet and caring. Just look at you, we are packing this poor girl Buffy's belongings to give them back to her family. And the woman was your husband's mistress!"

I smiled with her.

"You know, I feel pity for her. Charles wasn't a great husband, and her family is just..."

She patted my arm. "I know. I feel bad for her too, but now she's in a better place."

"Yeah, just like my Bree. You know, maybe I will wait to call this Isabella."

"Oh no, call her if you think it will make you happy. Just don't get too obsessed."

Maybe Carmen was right after all. I will call, but I'll be patient and wait 'til she give me the chance to talk to Bree.

* * *

Hi! Sorry for not answering your reviews, my computer died and I only had the chance to post the past chapter from work. I still can't repair my computer, but I took one borrowed to post this and I'll be answering you soon.

May


	8. Chapter 8

**EPOV**

"So the Doctor said it was all about stress?" Jasper asked, still not buying what the doctor said about Bella.

"Yeah, he said her tests showed she's a bit anemic, but not so much for her to miss her period. She's on vitamins and iron, and he asked her to take things slowly."

"What do you think?"

"I think that session with Jared was too much. I see how it takes her so long to recover from every session. But I couldn't mention it to the doctor. How does Alice feels about it?"

"She thinks Bella needs to slow down. She only has two clients now that she dropped Mrs. Sainsbury and that old fart McCoy."

I nodded. McCoy was a professor at UW and he hated everyone on this world so he was a pain in the ass every session. Bella felt bad for him and accepted to give him a chance, but he got mad when Bella took the time for Costa Rica, and he never called back. His loss if you asked me.

"But she's adamant to give this Esme Platt a chance. Since the pregnancy scare she feels she ought to help her."

Jasper took another sip from his beer and burped. We were alone in his garage, where he kept most of his gadgets. He was an engineer, working with Dr. Carlisle Cullen at a facility not so far from here. He never wanted to tell me about what he and his boss researched, so I didn't bother to ask anymore. But I couldn't deny I was dying to meet Carlisle. Bella said he was like her counterpart, he applied science to search what Bella did naturally. I pictured him like Bill Murray in Ghostbusters, but Bella laughed when I mentioned it. She said he was more like Harold Ramis with the looks of a model. Oh, and she blushed. Seems like my girl had a crush. Another reason to meet the man. The only picture Jasper had with the man, was an old one were they are too far to really look at their faces.

"Do you want another beer?" Jasper opened his mini fridge and pulled out a couple of cans. "Oh no. You're staring at that picture again! No I won't ask him to come for dinner and no he won't be in your next book."

XXXXXXX

These past five minutes were the more awkward of my life. Bella decided she wanted to give this Esme Platt a chance, and she asked her to come for brunch today. To our request, mine and Alice's of course, we asked Esme to bring one of her friends, hoping it would make the atmosphere less tense. Wrong decision.

We were seated looking at each other. Esme was very nervous because Alice was glaring to her. Carmen, who was Esme's friend, was very confused about why Alice was so mad. Honestly, despite my first terrible impression, the woman seemed rather normal and nervous. And Bella stood up to bring another carafe of coffee.

When Bella came back, she looked at us and sighed.

"Do you want more coffee Carmen?"

"Sure, let me help you to pour it."

"So you two met at college, right?" This was Bella's third attempt to make little conversation.

"Yeah, we were roommates, until Esme got married when we finished our freshman year. I followed her example and marry two months later, but because my husband got a job offer in Atlanta we moved and I lost contact with Esme."

Bella nodded, and looked desperate. How could I help her?

"One of my novels was about a detective in Savannah." What? It was the closer I've ever been to Atlanta.

Bella dropped her head in to the table. I think my comment was lame. But it made Esme and Alice laugh.

"Really Edward? This was the best you could say? A famous writer and this was your best attempt at conversation?" At least Alice wasn't glaring at Esme now.

Bella smiled to me. "Well, no one said he was witty."

"Hey! I resent that!"

But by now, there was no tension and I gave Bella a swift kick under the table. She had to bring the rules for a session now that we were in a good mood.

"Esme, did you brought what I asked you to?" Bella was in 'all business' mode now.

"Sure." She pulled out a stuffed rabbit from her ginormous bag. What is wrong with women and bags? It was just a step less from a suitcase.

"Don't worry I'll get it back to you. I just need it for a while to feel Bree's vibes."

Carmen and Esme were waiting for a bigger explanation.

"Ok, this is what we're going to do. I'm going to get in a state of relaxation where I'm able to call whatever spirit is around here. I won't be in full trance state, so your daughter won't be talking to us. If I make contact, we will hear her voice, but she won't be able to communicate yet."

Esme nodded. "So that will happen in another session."

Bella answered with an extremely serious tone. "Yes. Now, there are rules. Very strict ones. I risk more than my life with every contact to the other side, so I want you and whomever you bring, to remain seated and quiet while I get in trance."

"But how will I talk to Bree? Chelsea told me Jared touched her!"

"Bree is the one who will choose to talk to you. I'm just the channel to let her talk. It's all on her. And that thing with Jared... it was one in many cases. Spirits are not allowed to touch, what he did was wrong. I'm borrowing my body and they most of the time respect it. Jared was desperate to ease Chelsea but he knew that with his breach of confidence he lost me. So I want it to be very clear that the only form of communication is verbal (oral), and it only will happen if Bree wants it."

Esme nodded.

"Now I also want it to be very clear that if you or one of your guest break the rules, the session will end and we will break our business relationship. So you must be very selective of whom do you bring."

Esme looked at Carmen.

"Do you agree Esme?"

"Yes."

"Well, then let's begin."

**Esme POV**

Isabella put both of her hands on the table and asked us to do the same. I noticed how while we were talking, Edward cleaned the table. Alice was watching me like a hawk, so I keep my hands motionless on the table.

Isabella hummed a soft tone and closed her eyes. Mr. Whiskers in front of her. My dear Bree loved that rabbit, if something would make her come and talk, surely this was it.

There was silence now, Bella stopped humming but her eyes remained closed.

Isabella's soft voice called out for Bree. She didn't scream or raised her voice. She just said Bree's name softly.

Another minute passed without a sound or any move. I looked around the room. Alice's eyes were trained on me, she was waiting for me to do something wrong, to blow this opportunity. Carmen was also looking around, exuding curiosity from her eyes. Edward kept his eyes on Isabella, love pouring out of them.

The sound of little steps upstairs startled me.

I looked around but Alice whispered us to be quiet and still.

A soft childish laugh sounded on the stairs to my left.

Could it be possible?

I felt something passing behind me, but I was unsure to turn around.

Then, something touched Mr. Whiskers. You could see how the fabric from his belly moving.

Isabella asked "Are you sure?" and the sweetest sound caressed my ears.

"Sure, I want to talk to Mommy."

It was Bree's voice.

* * *

Hi! I hope you liked this chapter.

Tomorrow it's my birthday, and I'll be celebrating with my family, so I hope to get the next chapter on Saturday (If my hangover isn't too bad :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Esme POV**

I've been in a daze since we left Isabella's home. I heard my baby's voice! I keep replaying that sound again and again in my head.

And Isabella was so sweet after that... She told me she will call with the details for our next session. She asked me to think if I really wanted to continue, like there was the smallest chance that I would say no.

Carmen was the one who asked me to reconsider it. She thinks it isn't right to talk to the dead. She said that now that I heard Bree happy I should had found peace. In a way, she's right. My baby was laughing, so I know she's fine wherever she is. But knowing I have the chance to talk to her again, to tell her how much I love her...

Someone knocked at the door.

Oh yes. It was Mr. Jenks, Charles' lawyer. It seems that Buffy's parents feel like Charles owed them something, and they tried to get Charles' will annulled. Right. Buffy only lived with him for two months, though they were together before our divorce, and they thought Charles should had changed his will and left everything to Buffy. The lawyer was too clear. Buffy died before Charles, so, in the very remote case Charles left anything to her, given that she died first, she got nothing. And Buffy was too young to think about to make a will. So who knows what these people were really after? I mean, they're rich, money shouldn't be an issue.

"Good morning Mr. Jenks."

"Good morning Esme, and I told you to call me Jonas."

The old man came into the house. I took his coat and hung it.

"Please, take a seat. Can I offer you something? Perhaps a cup of coffee?"

"Water will be fine, Esme."

I brought him a glass of water and he had various files on the table.

"Thanks Esme. I'm afraid I don't bring good news."

"Really?"

"It seems that Buffy's parents are in bankrupt. They're desperate for money."

"Well, Charles was very generous, maybe if we offer them a small amount..."

He shook his head and gave me a sad smile.

"They owe a couple of millions on taxes. Who knows how more they're drowned on debt? They are trying to sue for all your money, hoping you'll settle for less to avoid scandal."

"But that's impossible! I mean, I'm not related to them in any way. How could they ask for my money?"

"They don't have a single reason to ask for anything. I already told them, Buffy died first. If they push, Charles was the one who inherited everything Buffy possessed."

I turned to him.

"What?"

"Oh, you didn't know. Buffy had a trust fund. She was the one with the money. But she gave them everything they wanted, so she didn't have much more left. They primped and pushed Buffy toward Charles, to get their claws on his money."

"But we were married at the time."

"Yes. And they knew it."

The awful opinion I had of them reached a new low.

"So they pushed Buffy, but why did Charles get her money?"

"She made a will when you divorced him. Apparently, she really was in love with him. She felt awful to you but she really wanted Charles, and well, your relationship with him was almost non-existent."

I huffed.

"To think that I felt sorry for her."

"We don't know what Charles told to her about your marriage. Now that I had read most of his papers, letters and documents, I found that Charles used to tell a very imaginative version of the truth. And don't forget her parents were the ones pushing her to Charles. they appeared as worried about their daughter's future."

"But they were in the Bahamas even after the accident!"

"Pleading to one of their relatives to lend them money. They knew Charles didn't want to marry Buffy."

"Please! Maybe not at the moment, but eventually..."

Jenks shook his head.

"No, I don't think so. He really loved you, so he wasn't ready to take that step with Buffy. For him she was convenient, she was there and she always did everything for him..."

"Ugh! He was a monster! There was no way I would forgive him. You know, I feel terrible for that poor girl. Her parents used her and then she fell with Charles who wasn't better than them."

"Right, which brings me to the matter we need to discuss. They are trying to get a lawyer to impugn the will. Now you are respected in the community and you have people's support; so until now, they can't find someone who will help them, but who knows when they will. What do you want to do?"

"What do you suggest to do?"

"Well, in other circumstances I would suggest to confront them. They don't have a chance to win, they're truly desperate. But considering you're grieving..."

"Oh no, Jonas. Normally I would've said to give them something. But now that I know how vile they are, I think I want to fight them. Are you sure they don't have a chance?"

"I'm absolutely sure. Not only they weren't mentioned in Buffy's will, but the way the behaved after her death... Believe me they don't have a chance."

"Then just let them bring it on."

**EPOV**

"How was your meeting with Aro?"

We were seated on our bed and Bella was massaging my shoulders when she brought the subject. Immediately I tensed again.

"Not so bad, but he was adamant that I have to go on the tour."

Aro is a firm believer of the benefit of always being present on the public's mind, so he organized a yearly tour with his most recognized authors. We visited fifteen or twenty cities, signed books and depending on whom had a book coming, some interviews. I asked him to let me pass this year's tour. My book was nowhere close to be finished, and the last one went out fifteen months ago, but he told me that precisely that was the reason to be on the tour.

"So you're going, right?"

Despite the serene tone she used, I knew she didn't want me to go. Her eyes told me so.

"I tried, but he thinks it's for my best interest to be on the tour. He thinks it will increase my books sales, and there's a rumour that Fox wants to buy the rights of my last book to make a film about it."

She dropped her hands from my shoulders and moved to seat by my side.

"And don't forget about your fans."

I took one strand of her long hair and twirled it on my fingers.

"You know I don't care about them, but I'm a public figure, I can't hide from them."

She huffed.

And she was right. As a writer, my image wasn't too present on TV or magazines. But somehow I managed to get a club of fans that followed me whenever I was on public. I never knew why. I hated to have my picture taken and certainly I wasn't a socialite that partied every night. I mean, I know I'm not ugly but I'm not that handsome. Bella began to hate them when she found that frequently they dropped boxes with lingerie, raunchy notes and indecent invitations at our door. She said it was stalkerish, I just threw the boxes to the trash and forgot about them.

Bella wasn't an overly jealous woman, but the fans were getting on her nerves, and from time to time she needed some reassurance. Besides, the whole pregnancy scare left her very emotional and clingy.

"I've been thinking about it, why don't you come with me?"

"Oh Edward, I don't know. You have to work, and I think I'm going to be a burden, and we have some sessions, though I could push them for a couple of weeks..."

I pushed her back so she was laying on the bed.

"Sweetheart, I want you with me. You could be by my side when I'm signing books and you could be my date to the parties Aro probably will throw."

She had a hopeful smile, I knew she wanted to be with me.

"Are you sure I won't be a bother?"

"Of course not. You could go as my assistant, you know? Bring my sharpies, take care of my phone, shoo my more annoying fans."

She giggled and kissed my neck.

"I'm surely going to shoo those ones way."

"And at the end of the day, you could give me a massage." I kissed her lips and pushed down the strap of her nightie. "A very thorough massage."

Damn right! Aro and the sessions could go and... oh my girl really knew how to blow my mind.

* * *

Hi! Sorry to post late, but to make it up to you I'm going to post the next chapter tomorrow. I hope you liked this one.

May


	10. Chapter 10

**EPOV**

"May I take a picture?"

I nodded and the young fan, who was wearing a very short and tight dress for a book signing, stood by my side giving her camera to Bella.

"Smile hun!"

When the flash of the camera blinded me, I felt a pinch on my butt. Bella must had noticed too, because she glared to my fan.

She gave the camera back and came to my side. She kissed me, it was a very passionate one with too much tongue and a bit of lip biting, and then she sat on the table. She had a smug smile on her face. The fan took her camera and the book I signed, huffed and left.

I kneaded my butt, Bella giggled.

"She pinched it!"

"What did you expect? The girl was decided to make you notice her. Look what she left on the table."

She showed me a little piece of paper with a phone number wrote on pink glittery ink.

"This is the third one."

"Try the ninth one. Honestly Edward, I thought your fan club was smaller and that your fans were older."

This tour was full of surprises. The first one was that Aro was so grateful to Bella for helping Chelsea that he covered Bella's expenses. Then it was the way we manage to schedule the sessions with her clients. The tour stopped five days on Seattle where Aro was supposed to throw a big party. We schedule the sessions on those days, and everyone agreed. But the biggest and most wonderful surprise, was how Bella recovered her light and energy on the tour. She was excellent as my assistant and the way she managed the fans and coördinate my stand was truly magnificent. Above of all, she glowed with enthusiasm. Except when she found persistent fans.

This second week I was paired with Sarah Lyle, and most of the audience were teenagers who loved her books. But I can't say I passed unnoticed. The people who came to see me were mainly older women who found endearing that I brought my girlfriend with me or gentlemen who found Bella endearing. Then there were the young ones, mostly young women who thought I was available, or like Bella told me, willing to put her aside. They came with too short dresses in too high heels, too much make up... you know the type. They were the ones who made Bella sweat, though she had no reason. Really. I never cared for them before Bella came into my life, and now that I found her, they meant less for me.

Then the screaming began.

Girls of all ages were screaming in joy, because Sarah introduced the young actor who was hired to portray the hero of her books on film.

I turned to Bella, and she was blushing.

"Oh, come on Bella. Don't tell me you like the guy."

"It's not that I like him per se. It's just that Josh Davenport it's the hero every girl dream about."

Josh Davenport was the hero on the books. The guy who portrayed him was named Aaron or something like that and he was a jerk. He eyed Bella the last he was here and tried to slip his phone number to her. Thank God we won't see him anymore because the next week we will be paired with another author.

"But you know, Edward. In my mind Josh Davenport has copper hair and green eyes, a square jaw and eyes that shine with love." She hugged my waist and put her face on my shoulder. She knew how possessive I was and she always found a way to settle me down.

"In your mind he looks like a handsome guy." I kissed her nose.

"A bit conceited if you asked me. But he's worth it." She kissed my lips, but before we got lost on the kiss someone cleared their throat.

"Could you sign my book?" A petite woman with glasses and a large coat asked me.

"Sure. What's your name?"

"Annie." She dropped the glasses and Bella looked at her and suddenly decided to seat on my lap.

Annie blushed and congratulated me on my success. She asked Bella how long we've been together. Bella smiled and said that less than a year, but didn't give her more details.

Annie thanked us and left. Bella was fuming.

"Why are you so angry?"

"Edward you're really oblivious. Did you see what she was wearing?"

"A coat?"

"underneath the coat."

"Hmm, pants?" I mean if she was so cold to get into the bookstore with the coat, the woman must had been pretty covered.

"Edward she was wearing lingerie."

"Under her pants?"

"Ugh! No, under the coat. When she took a step forward I saw her garter belt."

Oh.

"Seriously Edward, I'm beginning to think that obliviousness is a Cullen trait. Dr. Carlisle is exactly the same, but he's a scientist and I think it goes with his personality but on you..."

Jasper's boss have my last name but we weren't related at all. Finally Jasper agreed to introduce me to him, and we had a long talk. We didn't share any long-lost relative, his family came from a different part than mine. He really was quite a character, but he wasn't so fond to become one on my books. And he didn't tell me what they were researching. The man was an enigma to me.

"Sorry love, but you know I don't look at them. I only have eyes for you." She melted in my embrace, finally I said the right thing. Now if I could convince her to leave early and make good use from the jacuzzi in our hotel room... Jealous Bella make a very kinky Bella if you know what I mean.

**Esme POV**

"It's outrageous Esme! I don't know how you can stand it."

Carmen glared to the file she was reading. The Sanders found someone who helped them to go through with all this mess. Their lawyer talked with Jenks first, to test the waters. Turned out, they lied blatantly about me. They told the lawyer that I was so mad about the divorce that I coerced Charles and Buffy to give me money in exchange of visiting rights. That I threw them out from Charles' house when they tried to get Buffy's belongings. They even managed to get a concerned neighbor who claimed I mistreated Bree! Outrageous indeed.

Jenks cleared up things with the lawyer, and he decided to drop the Sanders as clients. Mrs. Sanders called me that night and asked to come to talk to me, 'to avoid those misunderstandings that lawyers are so prone to make'. I asked her to come today, to see what were their plans. Carmen offered to stay, but I declined. Jenks thought of something else.

"Well, I'm not going to let them get away with those absurd claims."

"But they used to run in the same circles as Charles, imagine they start a rumour about you."

"So? I don't mind what they may say. If they start something I think they have too much to lose if I decide to talk."

Someone knocked the door, Mrs. Sanders was here.

Carmen picked up her things and stood at the door, she wanted to take a look at Mrs. Sanders. I opened the door, with my best fake smile.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Sanders."

The woman standing at my door was very different to what I imagined. She was shorter than me, with long, straight jet black hair. Her skin was tanned, but it was logical as she spent the last month in the Bahamas. She was wearing a designer pantsuit, but if you looked closely, it was very worned out. She was the opposite of Buffy.

"Hi Miss Platt, I'm so glad to meet you."

I was about to ask her to come in, when I noticed she stepped inside. I just gave a step aside, to let Carmen walk out of the house.

"See you later." Carmen said smiling.

I closed the door and lead Mrs. Sanders to the living room.

"Do you want a cup of coffee?"

She was scanning the room, a look of disdain on her face.

"Sure."

Great. I went to the kitchen and picked a tray with a carafe of coffee, sugar, cream and a couple of mugs. When I got back she had one of the pictures I kept on the coffee table. It was one of my parents.

"How do you like your coffee?"

"I take it black, thanks. And call me Sue."

"Sure, please call me Esme. So you wanted to talk."

"Yes, I think the way my husband and I addressed the situation was wrong. See, we loved our daughter so much, and the fact that we lost her so suddenly affected us too much. Imagine our surprise when we came back from our trip, and found out that the only we had left from Buffy were the few knick knacks you sent to us. By the way, I want to thank you. You were so kind to go to such lengths to find us and send us her things but..."

"But?"

"Well, Charles made us feel like he would take care of us, the same way he was taking care of Buffy."

"Ok." I was sure it was quite the contrary.

"And we may had taken his promises very seriously."

"Ok."

"So we went to our lawyer to find out what else Buffy may had left behind."

"Hmm."

"He said Buffy left all her belongings to Charles. Now, we thought that given that Charles also died, well, we could take Buffy assets with us; after all we were her parents."

"Sure."

"Imagine our surprise when he mentioned that Buffy only had a couple of thousand dollars in her bank account, and the money belonged to you as the inheritor of Charles Evanson assets. We were devastated!"

"You know I relinquished my rights to any asset that belonged to Buffy. I found it tacky to accept anything from her."

"Yes, but we thought... Given that you were divorced and he was living with Buffy, almost married in my opinion, well, we thought he may had left something to Buffy. You know, he promised to take care of her. And also he may had offered to take care of us."

"Right."

"But the lawyer mentioned that even if he had left something to Buffy, and we had got Buffy's assets, we wouldn't get a thing because she died first." She took a handkerchief from her bag, which was suspiciously placed right in the middle between us, and dabbed her eyes.

This would take forever if I didn't push her.

"So Mrs. Sanders, sorry, Sue. What is what you want from me? I already sent you whatever I found that belonged to Buffy. And I already told your lawyer that I don't want anything that belonged to her. What else can I do for you?"

"I'm glad you mentioned it. We had an understanding with Charles, he promised to help us with a very difficult situation we had on our hands. His suddenly death left us... adrift. But we know how kind and generous you are, we know for sure you will cherish your ex-husband promises and would find a way to carry out them. So knowing how generous your soul is, we were hoping that you...We were expecting some kind of compensation for the loss of our daughter."

XXXX

Once Sue Sanders left, I was tempted to wipe with bleach the couch. The woman was so infuriating! She made such a scene because I only offered to help her with the funeral expenses. Ok, I knew she didn't pay a thing for the funeral, but she didn't know that I already knew.

She threatened to go to some gossip rag to expose how bad I treated her, which really didn't matter to me. It didn't escape to me the way she took her bag from the coach. I'm sure she recorded our conversation and that was the reason she put it so close to me. But I had a surprise for her. Jenks asked me to place a camera to record Sue Sanders visit. It let me find that she stole one of my antique frames, the one with my parents picture. I found the picture on the grass outside. Too bad for her that I replaced the original with one that came from a package that cost five dollars. Carmen is going to have a field day with the video.


	11. Chapter 11

**EsmePOV**

We were at brunch to discuss what to do with the Sanders. Jenks was late, but I had other plans to take care of.

Tomorrow was my first session with Isabella and I was getting nervous. Carmen said it wasn't comfortable for her, and she still tried to get me to leave it alone. And I was terribly anxious to go on my own. So Chelsea was the option, and she was so kind to accept my invitation.

Now the three of us, were discussing the Sanders. Jenks told me he had news, good ones. Carmen and Chelsea were there for support, and maybe for the chance of gossip. Turned out, Chelsea met Buffy when she was single, and she knew about her parents. We all could share some info.

"So let me get it straight, she stole your picture thinking the frame was an antique, and then she tried to sell it as one? Wow! She should had known any respected antique dealer would know the difference between plastic and silver."

We were cackling. Yeah, Sue Sanders was very dumb... or desperate.

"Not only that, she sent her husband the next day to try to intimidate me, but my neighbor was near and deterred him. I got it all on film."

Carmen now got serious.

"He threatened you?"

"Yeah, something about knowing I'm living alone, and how he could get to me and no one would notice. But like I said, Mr. Schwartz came to help me. You know him, he used to be a general or sergeant? He's retired but he's still big and strong, and have a bit of interest in all the happenings of the neighbors."

"The one with the binoculars? Yeah, he spends all his time at his window. Wait! He physically threatened you? Esme, they're dangerous!"

"Not really. Immediately we called the police, and Harry knew he was busted, he ran. But I got everything on the security camera, so I asked Jenks to get a restriction order."

"Esme, I'm scared. It was one thing to threaten with defamation but this is on another whole level." Carmen eyes were wide like plates. I sighed. I knew she would be concerned.

"That's why we're going to talk to Jenks. He said he had good news."

In that moment he came to our table.

"Sorry Esme, ladies." He acknowledged the others. "I'm late because I waited 'til they gave me this."

He put a file on my hands.

"It's the restriction order, but there's more, a lot more."

I waved the waitress and she came to our table to take Jenks' order.

"Only coffee. I already had breakfast."

We waited until she was out of reach.

"Ok, what else?" I was a bit anxious. I didn't want to admit it, but Harry scared me. I was fine on my own, only have the help of my housekeeper and even then she only came by three times a week. Now, I would have to hire bodyguards and increase the security on my house. Ok, maybe I was exaggerating.

"Well, while Harry tried to scare you, Sue went to have a conversation with Marissa Stanfield."

Oh God! She was the only person that I hate in this world. She tried to snag Charles when we were younger and single, I won his affections instead; so since then, she always tried to get one over me. It was a childish competition, but still. Her opinion was truly respected in our community. And she lived a couple of blocks away.

"Don't fret Esme. The day she went to visit her, my wife was visiting her and planning something about some charity."

I nodded. His wife Joyce was a very kind woman, who loved to be involved in every event.

"Well, when she babbled something about you stealing her inheritance, Joyce defended you. She mentioned how you already had enough with the loss of Bree and now had to deal with people stealing your money and your house. She mentioned something about breach of trust and a few legal terms, which she used wrong, but they served. So Sue left with her tail between her legs. And now Marissa is miffed with the way she had always treated you. So expect an invitation for the comite of that charity."

Ugh!

Chelsea laughed. "Oh my mother will love to hear this! She hated the Sanders with passion. Something about a bad deal they made with Dad long time ago."

We all turned to her.

"Really?"

"It was long ago, I wasn't even been born. I can get the details if you want them."

"Maybe it won't be necessary." Jenks had a mischievous smile.

"Why?"

"Well, Mr. Harry Sanders can't get in more trouble, because he already had many. He owes to too many people, and then he had that nasty debt to the IRS. When I went to get the restriction order, one of my friends in the police told me Harry went missing since yesterday. They went to get him for the taxing issue. Well, he and his wife are gone. Vanished."

"No?!" We said in unison.

"Oh yeah. He told me to ask you to get out of the city for a week, just while they catch him."

I shook my head.

"No, I can't. I have my first session of... counseling. It's very important to me to be there."

Chelsea immediately noticed my reluctance to tell Jenks about Isabella.

"Oh it's very important to never miss a session. That program helped me so much when I was grieving Jared."

"But we need you with..."

"She can stay at my house. We live in a gated community and we will only leave the house for the session."

Carmen took pity on me. She just showed me what a great friend she was. I patted her arm, I really appreciated her effort.

Now if only the police got the Sanders soon...

**EPOV**

This was the first session since we came back from the tour. Bella was glowing with her enthusiasm, because Alec finally knew that he was accepted to USF. She got in trance so easily this time...

Aunt Jane came quickly, because it seems she wanted to talk to Alec. She said where it was the last clue of the treasure,and she asked Alec to bring all of it to me, because he needed an adult to help him. She didn't trust his parents.

I thought she was leaving when she turned to me. Something no spirit had ever done before.

"I want to make a deal with you. You will be responsible of getting Alec through this ordeal... and I'll ask them what you want."

She got me shocked for a minute.

She furrowed her brows and asked me "Are you going to help him?"

"Of course I'm gonna help Alec. You should know by now how much we appreciate him. It's that part of asking to them that I don't get."

She laughed.

"I know what you want and how much you wish they were around to ask them." She looked behind to where Bella was seated immobile. "Her mother is delighted that she found you, their blessing won't be a problem."

Oh.

"Aunt Jane, you got a deal." I said with my biggest smile.

"Good." She said the last word while she was disappearing. I was worried that the fact she deviated her attention to talk to me, had may affected Bella. She came back so healthy and we didn't want her to relapse.

Five minutes later, Bella was waking up. A big smile on her face.

"How did it go?"

"Fine Bella. Aunt Jane was so happy. And she gave Alec the last clue."

She turned to Alec who was a bit distracted this time.

"Are you fine Alec? You don't look so satisfied to had talk to your aunt."

Alec turned to me.

"Are you sure you're going to help me? I don't want my parents near whatever Aunt Jane left me."

"Don't worry Alec. I offered my help, don't you forget it." I winked at him.

xxx

I came alone with Alec, because his mother wasn't so fond of Bella. His parent forbid him to have anything to do with her, and he lied every time he came to see her.

We entered his house, and he asked me to be quiet. He walked around a messy living room. Glasses and bottles were thrown everywhere. The only sound we heard was a TV show. He ran through the stairs quietly and came back a minute later.

"My mother is passed out on her bed. My father left a note asking to not wait for him tonight." He sighed. His parents were a mess.

"Come on, we have to hurry. I don't want my mother to find out."

He took me to the attic, where he said they kept Aunt Jane's things. It was full of dust and cobwebs.

"She said it was on her favorite doll, it was over here."

He pulled a trunk and opened it. Inside there were a few dresses and pictures. I pulled one out and smiled. Aunt Jane was a beautiful woman on her youth.

"I got her looks, that's why all the chicks are after me." Alec winked at me.

He pulled a porcelain doll out of the trunk. It had a crown and a silk dress with layers of chiffon.

"This one was her favorite." I took it from him, and checked the doll, one of the layers of the dress had an envelope sewn on the inside. I tore the dress and took the envelope with me.

We left the house and went to McDonald's for a burger. We wanted to open it far from his mother's reach.

"So, open it Alec. I'm dying to know what it's inside."

Alec tore the envelope open, and pulled out the papers inside it. One was a letter, and the other was a business card, from Jonas Jenks, a lawyer?

"Read it Alec."

"It only says that she had a lawyer helping her with her finances. Also said that he has her last will. And that I have to get an appointment... but to wait 'til my birthday. Why?"

"Alec, when was your birthday? I remember we took you to..."

"To Hooters, yeah baby! You got me a fake ID and bought me a beer, you're so cool. It was a month ago. But why?"

"Alec, you're now eighteen. Legally, you're an adult. I guess that's why she wanted you to wait. So your parents don't have access to your inheritance."

I smiled, Aunt Jane's wish would become true very soon. I've wondered on what she said she would do for me...

Since we came back from the tour, my relationship with Bella became different. More profound. This trip made me realize that I really want to spend the rest of my life with her. She's my one. Well, I knew before, but now I know we're ready to take that next step. There's a difference.

I wonder if my grandmother's ring would be fine for her, and I'm sure Alice and Jasper will approve. It would be better if her parents were alive and gave us their blessing... wait a minute. How did Aunt Jane knew what I was thinking?

* * *

Hi! I know this chapter will raise a few questions, like is this the last we'll hear from the Sanders? ;) Next chapter we'll see Esme first real session, and we'll get a bit insight of Bella's story, what happened to her parents.

I started a new story, Eclipse Island. Go and take a look. It's a story full of drama and a bit of suspense, all seen through Jasper's eyes.

See ya.

May


	12. Chapter 12

**EPOV**

Marcus session was uneventful, like always. I don't mind to admit that helping someone like Alec really showed me the reason Bella does this. And while I like Marcus, he's just a man who have trouble with letting go his wife. He's the nicer version of Chelsea.

While he said goodbye to Alice, I sat reading what this Mr. Jenks sent me. The road to help Alec get his inheritance was long, and we were just in the beginning. That's one of the reasons why I'm in a bad mood today. Every other day, I liked Marcus chatter, and knew how pleased he was with the five minutes he talked to his wife; but today I felt like he was selfish. It also may be, because one of his sons talked to me in the morning, accusing Bella of being a fraud, a trickster. He found out how much Bella charged Marcus. Now, I know it isn't cheap, but Bella risks her life with every session. And she charges according the person. Alec got his session almost for free, while Chelsea... and I'm sure she paid it gladly. I'm sure she'll charge the same to Esme Platt.

Ugh! Another reason why I was so grumpy. I'm not really sold on that woman. While I don't hate her like Alice, I don't share Bella's enthusiasm. Well, just one more session and we'll be back on the road for another week.

I needed to find Alice and talk to her about Marcus' son. I've never dealt with someone like him. Usually the clients are very discreet and never said a thing to their families; of course there were exceptions, Chelsea screamed to the four winds how much she appreciated Bella's help.

"Edward, you look worried."

Alice was back, and she sat next to me.

"Tell me, what's troubling you?"

I turned around to make sure Bella didn't woke up. I didn't want her to hear a thing until Alice and I had dealt with the trouble.

"Marcus' son called. He's terribly angry and he called Bella a fraud. He said she was stealing from an old gullible man. I'm worried, I'd never dealt with someone like him. What do you do?"

Alice smiled.

"This isn't the first time it happens. From my experience, we wait for the next session. By that time, Marcus and his son probably had discussed it. It could go two ways, or Marcus leaves the sessions and he goes on with his life, or he talk to us to invite his son. I really hope he talks to him, and that his son happens to be a reasonable man. It's horrible when they get you into their family arguments."

"What if he threatens Bella?"

"Hmm, well, when they try, we do something not very ethical. Bella tries to talk to the spirit, and ask him to plead her case with the person who's making all this trouble. You know, in dreams and things like that. Some other spirits who are grateful with Bella may help."

"Does it work?"

"It only happened once, and the person left us alone, so we think it worked out. But I think that was the worst case scenario, that was a woman who wanted to cause trouble to her family and she put a fight to every decision they made. It wasn't just with us. Don't sweat it, it will work out. What else is troubling you?"

"Alec. The proceedings to get him his inheritance will take long, because this lawyer has to prove that the will on his possession is the last one Aunt Jane made. And we don't know how his parents will take it."

Alice nodded.

"Well, but it's out of your hands to change it. You want to be with Alec the whole way, and it's fine, but you can't stress out of it."

I nodded, she was right.

"And we have Esme Platt tomorrow."

"Ugh! Don't mention it. I can't pinpoint why she bothers me so much. I know she's devastated for the loss of her daughter, but there's something in her that I don't like. I've asked around about her."

She blushed. Now that was weird. Alice never blush. So I teased her.

"Oh! Alice Whitlock was nosy about someone? I can't believe it. Come on, give us the scoop."

"Shut up! I just asked a couple of women who may had known about her."

"A-hum."

"Well, they said she's nice. Her belated husband was awful, they hinted he probably beat her! Now, I feel bad about her."

"So you want to be present on the session?"

"Of course! There's no way I would leave Bella with her. I don't feel that bad."

"You know I will be here, right?"

"Yeah, but you men, are kinda blind. You won't know how to read her expressions or how to feel her intentions."

xxx

I was sitting on the table, checking that everything was ready for the session. The tablecloth was pulled to perfection. A tray with water and other refreshments was set on the coffee table. The windows and curtains were closed. Yeah, we were ready to Esme Platt. I hope her daughter turns out like Didyme. Just a few words and few smiles.

The ring of the doorbell shook me out of my thoughts. She was here.

Alice greeted her and let her in, guiding her to the living room, she said she wanted to be absolutely clear about the rules with her.

I heard more voices, so I knew she brought a guest.

"Oh Edward Cullen! I'm so glad to see you out of my father's building."

So she brought Chelsea. In a way that calmed me down. At least she knew how to behave in this situation.

**EsmePOV**

Finally the day had come. I was going to talk to my Bree.

I've been too nervous with all the mess with the Sanders, but when the date came closer, my thoughts were only about Bree. Carmen declined the invitation, knowing Chelsea would be with me, but she offered to be with me after the session. She is usually a very busy woman but now her daughter Emily was away with her cousins, because they all caught chickenpox, and it was a relief to me to not be around a child at this time.

Chelsea picked me up, and she was babbling the whole way, something about how excited I should be and how wonderful is to have a second chance. Only it didn't feel like a second chance. My time with Bree was so short. It wasn't fair to have her for so little and then lose her.

Chelsea noticed how I was getting sad, and she shut up. The only time she opened her mouth was to ask me to enjoy this session.

We parked in front of the house, and I walked slowly to the door. I rang the bell and Alice opened the door.

"Good afternoon Esme, come." She gestured to the couch, while she helped Chelsea to get out of her coat. She complimented her and asked about the brand. I turned and find Isabella seated with a man. I didn't remember if he was her husband or fiancé. Anyway, he was holding her hand and gave it a kiss. I approached them and offered my hand.

"Isabella,I'm so glad you're giving me this chance."

She smiled and held my hand.

"Non-sense Esme. Take a seat. I want to talk to you for a minute before we start."

I took a seat and the man left.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. That's Edward, my boyfriend, do you remember him? He's going to finish with the last-minute details." She patted my hand. "I want you be relaxed. It helps me to get in trance. What you saw the last time, it was a minor trance. I wasn't in a deep state of unconsciousness; this time I'll get completely out of me and it could be... impressive the first time. Remember the rules? Well, I want you to set your hands on the table, get comfortable on your chair, because this being the first time, it will probably take me longer to reach your daughter. Before the visual manifestation of your daughter, you may feel the air around you getting colder, and sometimes they like to move things a bit. Don't get scared, it's the way they let us now they're near. Oh, and the most important rule, don't touch me. Please, don't move my chair or hold my hand." Isabella then stood and asked me "Are you ready?"

I followed her, to the same little table we were seated last time. This was a little side room on the house, because you could see the dinning room from the door. It had a coffee table with a tray, a couch with lots of pillows, and the round table with six chairs. They had a lamp on the side, which provided a fair amount of light. That's when I noticed there wasn't a light on the ceiling. That was weird.

I took a seat next to Isabella. Her boyfriend Edward was on the other side. Then Alice and Chelsea; both put their hands on the table and smiled to me. I did the same.

"Now, no more questions Esme? Because once I close my eyes, I won't hear a thing."

"No, I'm ready."

I stretched my fingers and closed my eyes for a second. The others were quiet and serious.

Isabella closed her eyes and hummed.

It was a soft noise which I guess helps her to get in trance, like a mantra. I didn't know what to expect, though Chelsea told me to just relax.

I looked around and nothing moved, I didn't feel a breeze. Maybe it took longer than I thought.

I closed my eyes again, Isabella's humming lulled me to almost sleep and I was relaxing when I felt it.

It was the softest whisk of air with the smell of my daughter.

I opened my eyes. Isabella was quiet now and slowly she opened her mouth.

A blueish fog came out.

It was barely there, for a second I thought it was an hallucination.

But then it got concentrated, it was almost solid. It formed a sphere, but some parts were moving up and down. I sniffed the air around me, hoping to get Bree's smell again, but surprisingly, I didn't perceive any odor. Not even the sulfur smell the mentioned on films.

The sphere of fog finally got a shape, it was Bree's face. She was looking at me!

"Mommy!"

"Oh, my baby!"

"Why are you crying?"

I touched my cheek, it was covered in tears.

"My baby. They're happy tears. I'm so happy to see you!"

"Mommy, I'm so happy here! Miss Buffy is here with me and she loves to play all the time! But don't cry..."

"Sweetheart it's just that I miss you."

"Mommy I miss you too, but Miss Buffy says that you'll come here one day, just now it isn't your time. She told me to talk to you now that Miss Bella was so kind to open a door for me. Did you know that one old lady said she was your granny, but she doesn't look like my granny. She is very sweet and tells me lots and lots of stories about you."

Of course she doesn't look like my mother. Granny was a very sweet woman who died wondering what was wrong with her daughter.

"Mommy, Miss Buffy said that I had to tell you that I'm very happy, so you don't have to worry. Are you worried? Because you don't have to. Everybody here is very nice."

"But you're not with Mommy, and Mommy gets lonely." My voice broke and I cried.

"Don't cry Mommy, I left Mr. Whiskers with you. He's very brave and he can take care of you, like when I was scared and you told me to hug him and all the bad dreams would go away. Do you hug him when you go to sleep?"

I could almost picture her, tapping her foot to the floor, admonishing me for being silly.

"I will, baby."

"I have to go Mommy, Miss Buffy says we need to leave Miss Bella rest."

"No baby, don't go!"

"Don't worry Mommy, I'm fine. I'm very happy, and I want you to be happy too. Promise me to say your prayers before you go to sleep, and take care of Mr. Whiskers."

"Baby..."

"Goodbye Mommy!"

She giggled and the fog started to vanish.

I took a look to the table, my tears blurred my vision. But, for a second, I could swear that Isabella's hand was almost invisible and then started to go back to normal.


	13. Chapter 13

**Esme POV**

I cried like a mad woman for twenty minutes. I counted them. The others were quiet, but sometime in between, Edward got Bella in his arms and took her to the couch. When I finished my stack of tissues, Chelsea gave me more and she patted my hand to try to soothe me.

"Wasn't it great?"

"I don't know."

It was true. Now that I talked to my daughter and found out she was fine... well, it sort of gave me peace. The reassurance that she was surrounded by people who would care for her, and even more, she told me she was happy. It didn't bother me that Buffy was the one who kept her. The poor girl had an awful life, she also needed some happiness.

But... I miss her.

To feel her so close and so far at the same time... but I heard her voice. One last time. And she said she loved me. If you had asked me what regret I had, was to never had the chance to say my daughter that I love her one more time. And now I did.

But why do I feel like it isn't enough?

I shook my head. I asked for one chance and I got it. I should feel satisfied.

I held Chelsea's hand and thanked her. After all, she's the one who introduced me to Isabella.

I felt better, so I turned to thank Isabella. She was sleeping on the couch. This time it was Edward who talked to me.

"The sessions are too much for her, she needs to take some time to recover. Do you want something to drink?"

"No. I think it would be better if we leave, I think I also need some rest."

He nodded and stood up.

Alice was quiet, seated on the same chair, she didn't move. She had that weird look on her face again.

Edward made me a sign to not disturb her either, and he led us to the door.

"I'd like to call sometime, to thank Isabella."

Edward gave me a soft smile, that didn't reach his eyes.

"Don't worry. You should take a few days to process this. Let's say you'll call her in a couple of days."

I shook his hand and left.

xxxx

After the session, we decided to go out for drinks. Clubs were more like Chelsea's scene, so she brought us to a little modern bar that played some kind of electronic lounge music. We were drinking and talking. It was fun.

"I can't believe you did it. How does it feel?" Carmen was too curious, but after three cosmos she admitted she didn't want go because all this contact with the dead scared her.

"It was overwhelming! I mean, one second I'm terribly happy for hearing her, but the next I realize I miss her like crazy. But she's fine, and that's what really mattered."

Chelsea was flirting with a man in a suit, who discreetly discarded his wedding ring.

"Shh! Stop it! He's married." I elbowed her.

She looked a bit dejected but then turned her attention to the bartender. A very flamboyant and too feminine for my taste bartender.

My phone was beeping the annoying tone I used for my mother, so I excused myself and went to the bathroom.

"Hello Mother!"

"Are you fine?"

"Excuse me?"

"Yesterday, while I had our book club reunion, one woman came to visit us. Sue Sanders."

Shit.

"Mother, that woman is crazy. The police is looking for her husband. I have a restriction order"

"Then I'm glad I threw her. She came to threaten me, in my house! And for what? She wanted some measly hundreds of dollars."

Hmm, now that was weird.

"I don't think so. Last I heard they owed millions to the IRS." Ok, maybe I exaggerated, but I needed to make my mother understand.

"Well, I gave her three hundred. It was all I had in my purse, you know, it was grocery shopping day."

"I'll reimburse it to you."

"THat's not a problem Esme. I know our relationship is... stranded, since you had that nasty quarrel with Charles, but believe me that we still love you and want what's best for you. I didn't like that woman visiting, and trying to cause a scene. She accused you of stealing her daughter's inheritance! Of course I mentioned that mistresses usually never get a thing when the man dies. She said it like it was your fault Charles died, so I remembered her that even though Charles liked to help people in need, in no way it was your obligation to support the family of his mistress. She left after that, but obviously it was too embarrassing for me. All my friends were here!"

I didn't know if I wanted to laugh. I could picture all the ladies whispering scandalized about Sue Sanders behavior.

"Anyway Esme, I want to know if you're fine."

"I suppose I am. Listen, I'm going to call my lawyer to let him know Sue was over there, I hope the cops arrest her husband's greedy ass."

"If you're sure. Why don't you come this weekend? I'll take you to the lake and we can have a family weekend..."

Suddenly I felt tired. I didn't feel in the mood to spend time with my mother, but I didn't want to fight her either.

"Sure. I'll call you on Thursday."

Chelsea popped her head in the bathroom stall.

"Are you finished? Because Carmen said she was tired, so we were wondering if it was time to go home."

"Sure. Let's go."

**EPOV**

When Esme left, I ran to check on Alice and Bella.

Bella was seated in front of Alice, she must had slept five minutes only, but she looked fresh as a cucumber. Maybe she needed to get more time off between sessions.

Alice had that confused look she got whenever she got a vision. We just had to wait for her to understand it and she would tell us.

"I just had a vision." She looked to Bella.

"So what did you see?" I went to sit but she pointed to the wall.

"Dismantle that camera and I will tell you."

Oh right, the camera!

Dr. Carlisle Cullen, inventor extraordinaire, decided he needed to test his latest gadget. A camera that filmed some kind of electromagnetic field. I didn't understand his explanation, if I'm honest, none of us got it and I think he did it extra difficult for us so we won't ask him anymore. The thing is, the camera was set to film Bella's sessions, but he only had certain amount of tape, so we had to stop it when the minute the session ended. Considering, this one was the last for a while, I offered to dismantle the camera and hand him the tapes. With the promise that when Bella starts again to work, he would show us whatever he got on tape. I immediately agreed. Bella and Alice weren't so enthusiast, but they went with the flow. Jasper was also excited, he said that he hoped we could get on film what really happens to Bella.

Anyway, I climbed a chair, with the screwdriver on my teeth and started to work, while Alice told us about her vision.

"I got Esme's future, but it goes two ways. One, she leaves with Chelsea and they travel around the world, drinking and partying; the other showed me Esme with a child. Both are equally persistent, she has to make a decision"

"So she gets to party or goes the adult way and gets married again and has a child? I don't see anything wrong with that."

"No, there must be something else. I feel a pain on my chest when I see the child, but I don't know why."

Bella patted Alice's back.

"Maybe is because you're a bit sensitive when it comes to children... I mean, I know you have a wonderful life Alice, but it may be a difficult subject for you."

Alice shook her head.

"No, it's different. When you had that... and we bought the pregnancy test, I felt so much joy. I was thinking that I may not be a mother, but I could kick ass and be the best aunt ever. This child, a girl, it feels so different. The worst part is that the girl looks a lot like her daughter Bree."

"Well, she was her daughter after all. If she has another daughter in the future, she will probably look like this one."

"You're right. It's just that awful feeling this little girl gives me..."

"Do you think she will come back?"

This time Bella answered.

"Of course she will. As a matter of fact, I think she's like Chelsea. She will use the sessions as a crutch. Maybe we should she a limit of sessions she may have?"

I jumped off the chair, camera in hand.

"I think that's a great idea. Alice, where did Jasper say I should leave this?"

"Leave it here on the table. He won't get it to Carlisle until this weekend."

I kissed Bella's forehead and elbowed Alice.

"What does the mystery boss do? He won't tell me anything about his research."

"What we told you. Really, he will only get more technical if he believes you like to find what he research. But please, don't tell him you want him on a book. He gets mad."

"Why? I'm basing a character on him, not stealing his personality."

"He's a sensible soul. Very shy. I believe he was bullied before, and he likes to retrieve to himself. He only allows Jasper and his other assistant near him."

"Ah, but from time to time, he lets you go to visit his lab."

Bella blushed because she knew where I was going.

"Stop it!"

"So he's shy, but with the looks of a model... those baby blue eyes really make girls swoon."

Alice turned to Bella.

"You still have that crush!"

"Oh, it's silly. It's just he was very friendly with me when I was younger..."

"Psst! Just imagine sixteen year old Bella, coming home with Algebra homework, she never understood math. Instead of asking Jasper to help her, who do you think she asked?" Alice wiggled her brows.

I found it hilarious... then I got a bit jealous.

"When he explained it to her, she was staring at him, while he droned and droned about x's and y's, quadratic equations and whatever. It's a miracle she passed."

"I thought he was cute."

"But then she caught him on a date and her heart broke."

"That awful woman didn't deserve him."

"So he's married?"

"No, he was engaged. I can't remember her name..."

"Irina Blastov." Bella answered, still indignant about it.

"Right. She thought marrying a doctor would give her prestige... only to find that Carlisle is better suited for life inside the lab than the politics of university. She left him and he's being alone since then."

I felt bad for the doctor. He led a very lonely life.

Alice got that mischievous glint in her eyes again. "Oh, don't forget about his assistant. Seth had a crush on Bella since she was in college."

"Oh not that again." Bella blushed more, not she was tomato red.

"Really? Please, do tell Alice. She never mentioned it."

"Young little Seth always trips over thin air when he sees Bella. Carlisle limited our visits to times where they're not working, because there were a few experiments gone wrong in Bella's presence."

"That's not true. Seth's shy, and he may get a bit distracted when visitors come..."

I got an idea...

Now, don't get me wrong. I love Bella and i know she loves me, without a doubt. But somehow the thought of this Seth lusting for my woman for a few years set my need to mark my territory.

"Alice, do you think I could go with Jasper to get this camera to Carlisle?"

Alice smiled. "You're a very naughty boy Edward. Just go alone, don't bring Bella with you."

This could be fun.

* * *

Hi!

I hope you liked this chapter.

Next one, on Sunday. Are you ready to meet Carlisle?

May

May


	14. Chapter 14

**EPOV**

The last week of the tour went by too quickly. Aro chose to set me with a couple of writers for children books, so very few people came to ask for my autograph. Bella was enjoying herself too much, she loved to watch the games and contests they set for the kids. Yesterday she helped a woman who brought her two kids and a toddler. To watch Bella carrying the toddler from side to side of the little playground we set, did something to my gut. It felt so right...  
Since the pregnancy scare, she's been so vigilant of her birth control. She told me she thinks she won't be able to continue with the sessions if she got pregnant, and she felt like she has too much to do yet. I feel that she's right, she can't continue with the sessions if we got pregnant; but for me it means getting her out of her actual work. The sessions will continue indefinitely if we don't put a stop for them.

Tonight, we had the last party. Aro mounted a 40's era extravaganza to close the tour. I didn't see the appealing, but whatever. I was ready half an hour ago, just had to set on my suit and Bella tamed my hair with pomade and some kind of mousse. I asked her if I should use a hat, but she quickly dismissed my idea. Bella however, was taking at least two hours to get ready. I didn't mind, because I was sure I would enjoy her effort.

My phone rang, it was Alice.

"Hi Alice!"

"Ye-llow handsome! Please, take a picture of your hair now. Quick."

"Why do you need a pic..."

"We have bets around here. Your mop of hair won't stay in its place the whole night through. So we're checking it."

"And how will..."

"Bella knows. She's going to take pictures every hour."

"Really?" I patted my head. The immense amount of hair product on my head must hold for a couple of hours... "Did someone chose midnight?"

Alice laughed.

"You want to bet? Jasper!" She yelled. "Edward goes with twenty bucks for midnight!"

I heard some commotion on her side and then Jasper's voice startled me.

"Tell him to not get back too late! We have to go with Carlisle tomorrow."

"You heard him. Now Bella, who has too much faith in hair products, bet that you stay with your hair styled until two. You said midnight, I said eleven and Jasper said that half an hour into the party. He said you will get nervous and will try to comb your hair with your fingers."

Damn! Jasper was good. I usually get nervous with the crowd and that combing thing with my fingers it's a nervous trait of mine.

"Wake up Edward! Jesus! Maybe I have to change my bet, and say that you will stay home. No! Don't you dare! It took us three days to find the perfect dress for this shindig. Anyway, I called for other reason. Remember the son of Marcus? Well, Marcus called again. He asked if it was possible to have a session with his son. I told him we would discuss it with Bella, but if he felt the sessions were straining his relationship with his family, well, we wouldn't take it against him if he stopped coming. So what do you think?"

"Bella would like to help him. She will accept, but I don't like his son. He said some colourful profanities describe Bella. I don't mind how angry you are, you never say what he said about someone you don't know. Least of a woman."

"Relax, I'll talk to him. But tell Bella first, then we'll make a plan. She doesn't have any sessions outlined, so..."

"Esme Platt hadn't called? I thought she would try to schedule a session soon."

"Nope. But I'm sure she will call soon. Go and have fun. And don't forget Jasper will pick you up early."

"Sure Alice. Rest, and please don't make fun of my pictures."

"Pshh! It isn't funny if you're not here. Bye!"

xxx

Ugh my head is killing me!

Glimpses from last night kept coming to me. The party. Bella's scrumptious dress. The people milling around. Bella got us into the dance contest. Too many drinks to loosen up for said contest. The promise of kinky sex if we won at least second place...

I lifted the sheets only to find that I was naked. Bella was curled into a ball on the edge of the bed. I moved so I could pull her into my arms.

"Noff. I... sore...later." She said, wrapping herself inside the sheets leaving me with nothing to cover myself. Now I had to get up.

xx

Jasper knocked on my door just when I walked out of the shower, so I offered to pay for breakfast. He said Carlisle expected us soon, but if I wanted to be on his good graces, donuts and coffee were the way to Carlisle's heart.

So here I was, carrying a dozen donuts and a box with the camera and tapes. Jasper was smiling because he said I wanted to kiss Carlisle's ass. He knocked the door of the lab, which looked like a warehouse; and surprisingly, Carlisle's assistant opened it.

"Good morning Jasper! We were waiting for you... oh, you brought someone with you."

His disappointment was obvious.

"Right, Carlisle invited him. We have the tapes from Bella's sessions." The moment he mentioned Bella, this guy blushed and got a faraway look... maybe I should introduce myself.

"Hi, I'm Edward Cullen."

He choked.

"Edward Cullen, the writer?"

"Yep. Had you read my books?"

"Of course! My mother loves them, and I like a couple of them. Perhaps you could give me your autograph later." He stood to the side and helped me with the box of donuts. Right. The lighter box. Weakling.

He led us inside of the warehouse/lab. It had an office in the back and was full of gadgets and weird machines. Carlisle was lurking under one set of metal boxes with buttons and cables pulling out of them.

"Jasper, I'm glad you're here. I can't synchronize the polarity of the connectors of the three boxes. As soon as I try to turn them on, one goes crazy and the others didn't react."

Carlisle came out.

"Oh Edward! I'm so glad to see you around here. Are those the tapes? Tell me did you have any trouble installing the camera? I think it's too heavy."

He took the box out of my hands and pulled out the camera. He wasn't a weakling.

"Hmm..." He dismantled the camera, unscrewing the lens. It had four layers of lens... I didn't think that was normal. "The lens look fine, I hope the tape had caught the essence of whatever talked through Bella."

A crash in the back startled us.

"Seth! What did I told you..."

"Hey, we brought donuts!" Jasper offered Carlisle one, and distracted him. I noticed that Seth was back with the remains of a pot, probably from the coffee maker.

"Oh right. I haven't had breakfast. Too bad, it's the most important meal of the day. It's just that I get excited with my new project. This, Edward, it's supposed to create a force field capable of hold a spirit trapped within six feet range around it. If I only could get it to turn on."

He put his half-eaten donut on top of one of the boxes, dropping crumbs around. Jasper sighed and shook the crumbs from the machine.

"How is Bella? I heard you took her with you on your tour?"

Again we heard a crash from the little office on the back.

"She's getting better, excellent. I think it really helped her to get away for a while."

"Yeah, Jasper mentioned how she was getting weaker." He patted my back. "I'm so glad she found a man who cares so deeply for her like you do."

This time Seth was almost behind me.

"S-so Be-be-lla and y-you..."

"Right, she's my girlfriend. We've been living together for a while."

I have to admit that I felt bad for Seth. He seemed torn with the news, but come on! He would never had made a move. My sweet Bella didn't need someone who would love her forever from afar. Least when she was capable of... wow! Now I remember what we did last night.

I turned and noticed that Carlisle was fixated on a tiny box, screwing something inside it. He never noticed the moment Seth's heart broke. Jasper, who noticed and probably cared, offered a donut to Seth.

"Come on man, eat one. It will make you feel better."

Seth took one, still looking defeated.

"Oh come on Seth! You knew she wasn't single."

Carlisle looked to Seth, his eyes were sad.

"Why don't we go for a beer after we finish with this. Eh? You could meet a girl at the bar."

Seth still was disappointed. I was feeling terrible, though it wasn't my fault.

"Hey! Why don't we take a look to these tapes and later we hit the bar on Hilton st. I know for a fact that all the girls from Volturi go over there after work. Drinks are on me."

Jasper smiled to Seth.

"Trust him, he works there. If he says there are girls, then you may meet one for sure."

Seth nodded un-enthusiastically.

"Ok, but don't expect me to drink only one. I need to get wasted."

**Esme POV**

The weekend at my parent's home turned into ten days with them. My mother was so loving and warm...

I didn't realize how much I needed her love until she hugged me. Since then, she treated me like I was the most important thing in the world. She cooked my favorite meals, she let me sleep 'til late, talked to me at night.

But tonight she looked different, the way she asked me to seat with her to have a cup of tea...

"So tell me Esme, how are you really dealing? I know that it wasn't easy for you at the beginning. You asked me to leave you alone!"

Yeah, after they came to the funeral, I asked them to leave. I wanted to be alone.

"Well, I have a friend, Chelsea Volturi. She suffered from deep depression after she lost her husband. She told me about this new therapy..." There was no way I would go into detail about what I did with Isabella Swan.

"And I see it's working. Tell me, what is it? Some new drug?"

"No, it's just different. We get together and... talk. Only it's easier because we all had been there."

My mother nodded.

"I'm glad you're getting better. I have news for you, but I couldn't tell you anything until I was sure you were fine."

I looked at her. If it was about her of Dad getting sick... no, she looked fine.

"Ok, well, tell me."

She exhaled. "Your father was thinking about retiring."

"Oh, it's a good idea. Then you'll have the chance to enjoy your time together."

"Well, we discussed it, and someone offered him a chance to buy a new house... a bit far from here."

"Oh, I think it's fine. Where?"

"It's in a little community for retired people, in Miami."

It was far, but it wasn't like I lived with them.

"I think it's wonderful Mother!"

"There's more. We're taking a cruise. We'll be going out for a couple of months, travelling around the world. It was your father's dream for when he retired and now we could finally make it. We were just waiting for you to recover... just in case you needed us."

Right, just like they were there for me when Charles hit me. Oh, they weren't! So why this sudden interest on my approval?

* * *

Hi!

Don't hate Carlisle, he's really on his own world; just like Seth, that's why he never talked to Bella.

I didn't have the chance to answer to your reviews, but there was one that was angry at Buffy. She wasn't a good woman, nor too bad. I'd like to think she's trying to get redemption by taking care of Bree who is alone on the other side.

Anyway, I hope you like this chapter; the next one I hope to get it ready by Wednesday.

May


	15. Chapter 15

**Esme POV**

_"There's more. We're taking a cruise. We'll be going out for a couple of months, travelling around the world. It was your father's dream for when he retired and now we could finally make it. We were just waiting for you to recover... just in case you needed us."_

_Right, just like they were there for me when Charles hit me. Oh, they weren't! So why this sudden interest on my approval?_

I decided to be blunt, there was no reason to beat around the bush.

"Why are you so interested in my opinion? It never mattered to you?"

She sighed.

"I know I deserve it. I know you're angry, and with reason."

"When I needed both of you to help me, you left me alone. The man hit me, Mother!"

She started to cry.

"I know now! But then, he came to us before you. He told us a bunch of lies. How you wanted to take away Bree, and how you got so depressed that... that you were getting paranoid."

"What?"

"He told us that some women after... they lose... someone, just like you did, they changed. He told us he was worried about you. Now, that we know what was really happening, we're so sorry. I only have to say in my defense that you can get obsessed. You have a passionate personality, and sometimes you don't let things go."

"What kind of apology is that?"

"An honest one. I'm telling you why we believed him. You did change after you lost the baby. You were so centered in Bree, and I'm not saying it was wrong, but... "

I just shook my head.

"Anyway, I'm so glad you're getting better. Your father and I have a proposition for you."

"Ok?"

"Well, we think it would be better for you to spend some time in another place, a change of scenery. And we thought you may want to come with us on the cruise."

"Really?"

"It will take your mind out of ... things. You won't have to worry for anything. We have planned to take two months but maybe you can come at least for the first part of the journey."

I huffed. A part of me wanted to remain angry at them, they chose him over me; but the other part, the bigger one, wanted to leave it all behind. It didn't matter. Charles is dead, and he can't hurt me anymore.

"Let me think about it, I don't know if I can put my... therapy on hold."

xxx

Two days later I had enough of my parents and their apologies. We agreed that they will go to their cruise and when they get back I'm going to stay with them and help them to settle. That way I still have the chance to have a few sessions with Isabella.

The moment I opened the door at my house, the answering machine recorded a message.

_'Good afternoon Esme, I have wonderful news. The police arrested Harry Sanders and his wife. Now, the charges may only stick for Harry not for her; but I'm sure you will relax knowing they'll be in jail for a while. Call me as soon as you get my message.'_

Wow. Things are getting better for me. Maybe I should make the most of my good luck strike, so i decided to call Alice to schedule my next session with Isabella.

"Hello?"

"Hi Alice. This is Esme Platt, I was wondering if I could set a date with Isabella?"

**EPOV**

We never got the chance to go for drinks with Carlisle and his assistant. Carlisle had trouble making work one of his gadgets and we postponed our plans. Instead, Jasper and I decided to go out with our girls. We had a wonderful time but sadly we had to get back early because Jasper had to work early.

The next day, Alice called us. Marcus and Esme had asked for sessions. She and Bella discussed dates and decided to see Marcus and his son first, then Esme. Alec's sessions were on hold until we had news from Jenks, the lawyer. I was very anxious about Marcus and his son, worried he would try something during the session.

XXX

Today we were expecting Marcus and his obnoxious son. I asked Jasper to stay, but he told me I was paranoid. He was sure nothing would happen.

So here I was, installing the camera again. Trying to set it in a way no one would notice it. The table with refreshments was set, the couch where Bella will rest had enough pillows. Everything was set.

I jumped from the chair, and set it next the table again.

I wanted everything ready.

Alice walked by, and smiled.

"You're worrying too much. what's the worst the man can do? You had seen enough people trying to prove Bella is a fraud. Hell, your first session, the one with Chelsea. You mentioned a guy trying to move Bella... You know what to do if this guy tries to do something. Now, go and sit. They will be here soon."

She pushed me to the couch, and I sat and waited. Ten minutes later, she brought the two men inside. Marcus was fidgety.

"Good afternoon Edward." The young man behind him coughed. "Right. This is my son, Demetri. He would like to-to set some-thing if that's fine with you."

I exhaled. I was ready to throw them out, but Alice came into the room.

"We have no problem, as long as he respects the rules."

Demetri immediately argued.

"I knew it! It's a simple way to deny me the chance to prove she's a fraud."

Marcus turned to him.

"You didn't listen to her rules. She will let you set your mirrors and camera. She's going to let you look around the table. Her only rule is that when the session starts, you have to remain seated and quiet. Now, if you want to stay and try your silly proofs, you will respect her rules."

Demetri huffed but agreed.

We came into the room, where Demetri set lots of mirrors and a pair of cell phones around Bella's chair.

He crawled under the table to look out for cables, walk around the room shaking his arms for the same reason. Then when he didn't find anything, he turned on the phones and set them to record the session.

"Why are you using phones?"

"Front and back cameras. And they're small."

In my opinion he was ridiculous with all his traps, but if he stays quiet during the session...

Bella came into the room.

"Good afternoon Marcus, this must be your son." She extended her hand. "I'm Isabella Swan."

The man blushed and took Bella's hand. He was surprised, probably thinking Bella was an old woman with a turban and necklaces with glass beads. I know I did the first time I met her. And like him, I was dumbfounded at her beauty.

"Now gentlemen if you take your seats please."

Demetri tried to seat by her side, but Alice indicated him the opposite side of the table.

"Given that Marcus is the one who will talk to Didyme, he has to be at Bella's side. Now, let me remind you of our rules. Once the session starts, you have to keep your hands on the table. ALL THE TIME." She really was serious.

Bella continued. "You have to stay quiet, if you have a question, now is the time to ask it."

Demetri shook his head. Now that he met Bella, he had no words.

"Ok, last, this works better when everyone is relaxed. So please, seat, take a good breath, and relax. Once I get in trance, I won't be able to hear you or talk to you so don't try it, until we're finished."

I turned to him.

"And don't try to touch her. It's very important to keep your hands to yourself." I hope my intimidating glare kept him on his toes.

We took our seats and Bella began to humm.

Demetri was looking around, trying to catch some glimpse of a trick.

Bella's humming began to fade, Didyme was a spirit easy to track. Then the blueish fog came out of her mouth.

Demetri extended his hand to reach out for the fog, but I pushed it back. He turned his glare to me, but I shook my head. The instructions were clear. To not touch her.

The fog was getting solid and Didyme's face was clearer.

"Hello Marcus. I'm glad to see you again."

In that moment, I could swear Demetri pissed his pants.

"Oh, I see you brought company. Demetri, how are you?"

Demetri was petrified.

"Now you're mute." Didyme smiled. "It would be the first time, you always had an answer for everything and loved to say the last word."

Demetri recovered himself, and tried to touch her again. This time Didyme was the one who got angry.

"You have to respect their rules! Seat and listen!"

Demetri sat straight on his chair.

"I'd been trying to encourage your father to move on and to spend time with you, but I noticed that both of you aren't nice to him. Why? He only has you!"

Demetri looked embarrassed.

"Oh and don't let me get started with Fiona. Are you still serious enough to propose to her? Because she's cheating on you, and I'm sure you know it."

Demetri got pale.

"Next time she tells you she's going to visit her friend Barbara while you work, come back thirty minutes later. You'll see. I'm tired of that woman asking you to buy her things and then telling you how your father wastes too much money in trinkets. It's his money for God's sake! If he wants to give it all to the pet shelter from around the block, it's fine! It's his money after all. She's trying to inflate his bank account so you could come into more money!"

Demetri was shaking, he was too pale now. Marcus was shaking too, but with laughter.

"Oh, don't think that I didn't notice your little cameras sending the video of this session to your girlfriend outside!"

In that moment we all felt a cold gust of air and the cellphones exploded, the mirrors shattered. I was hoping Carlisle's camera was fine.

She glared to her son.

"You will treat your father with the respect and love he deserves, and you won't interfere in his life anymore." Now she turned to Marcus. "This is the next to last session. I'm sorry but you need to learn to live without me. You still have a few years in this world, but know that I'll be waiting for you here. Now, we had taken too much time and energy from this poor girl. You will take a couple of weeks to clear your mind and then you will call to set the last session."

She turned to me.

"A few of us around here know what you plan, and we think it's for the best that you hurry and ask her. She deserves it, you deserve it. And, maybe you don't know it, but you'll get some competition." She winked at me. "Oh, and you have the approval from her mother, her father is a very difficult man. You don't need it."

The fog began to vanish, she only had time to turn to Demetri and say goodbye.

As soon as the fog was gone and Bella closed her mouth, I ran to her chair and pulled her into my arms. Demetri was shaking, still very pale, trying to comfort Marcus. Alice led them to the living room, she offered some coffee or tea. She said she wanted to have a few words with them.

Now that I knew for sure Alice would handle Marcus and his son, I carried Bella to the couch, and settled her with the pillows. I kissed her forehead and thought about what Didyme said. This was the second time some spirit mentioned my plans for Bella. The way she said it gave me hope that one day...

Bella was asleep but her arm pulled me into the couch with her. She snuggled in my arms and I thought why did I have to lose? After all Didyme said I had her mother's approval. I have to buy a ring.

* * *

Hi! Don't get angry at Edward for being so calm after Didyme blew the phones and the mirrors, he had seen it before ;)

Now I see that more of you are angry at Buffy, so I think I'll cut her part on the story; she only has to do one more thing. She's only a secondary character, so it won't change the story.

I hope you liked this chapter, I hope to get the next one this Saturday.

May


	16. Chapter 16

**Esme POV**

"Hello Alice, I'm ready."

I told her as I stepped inside the house. She tried to call me yesterday to reschedule the session, but I was closing the deal on Charles home. Now it wasn't my problem. I felt so light. The Sanders were in jail awaiting for their trial, I finally got rid of the last of Charles' stuff. I only needed to hear my sweet baby's voice.

Alice led me to her living room first.

"I want to have a few words with you first."

"But I still get my session?"

"Yeah. It's just that yesterday with our last client, well, things got intense and now we're more careful with Bella."

What?

"I'm sorry, but what happened?"

"They made their spirit angry. And the spirit caused some physic manifestation of her anger, so we were worried about Bella. Now, she looks fine and she is happy to help you with the session. "

"I'm sure there's a but in there."

"Yeah, I just want to ask you to keep the session simple. Don't get angry or make your daughter angry. Don't make her cry. I'm sure you and your daughter will be happy, but I just want to avoid any possible complications."

I nodded. I didn't want complications.

"It wasn't the first time we dealt with something like this, but usually we give Bella a few days to recover. I'm sure you understand..."

"Don't worry. I just want to hear my daughter's voice."

xxx

Now that Isabella was humming, I noticed the dark circles under her eyes. Alice was right, Isabella needed her rest. I promised to myself to give her a few weeks before I scheduled my next appointment.

This time I was watching her face when the blue fog came out of her mouth. Her face became paler, even though the fog came down to her hands... it wasn't blocking my view of her face. She became translucent!

"Mommy!"

I turned to my daughter's face.

"Bree!"

"Mommy, Miss Buffy wants me to say something to you."

Right, Buffy.

"What does she want me to know, sweetie?"

"That she was sorry for all the hurt she caused you. But Mommy, she was always nice to me."

"Oh, but she made some things that weren't fine when she was here. Don't worry about her sweetie, I forgive her. Now tell me, how are you doing?"

"Oh it's wonderful! Your Granny showed me how to ride a bike, and we like to draw pictures. I tried to bring you one, but when I came here it disappeared before I got through to the door. Your Granny said I can call her Granny too, isn't she awesome!"

"Honey, I'm so glad you're with her. She was great when I was a child."

"Mommy, where's Daddy? Why aren't you here with me?"

Oh God! How could I explain it to her? I was speechless.

"Granny said you have something more to do before we can be together. You have to do it quickly Mommy, I miss you."

"I miss you too, honey."

"Mommy, I have to go. Granny is calling me. Promise me to be good."

"Oh sweetie, I'll be good. I'll come back to see you soon."

"Love you Mommy."

"Love you baby."

The fog went back to Isabella, but this time, the tears wouldn't let me look at her. I guess it didn't matter. My baby was fine.

xxx

This time, sleep didn't came easily. I keep replaying Bree's words in my mind. I'm sure she said something that bothered me, but I couldn't remember what. The bottle of wine that I drank didn't help me to get relaxed...

It wasn't Buffy. I never cared about her. In a way, she had luck, she never got the chance to know Charles' darker side. No, it had to be something else.

Or what Bree said about me doing something else here before I can go to her. What else Granny could had said to make her understand?

Maybe it was when she asked me about her father. Who knows what happened to him? Maybe his bad actions in life banished him from wherever Bree is... yes. This is what bothers me.

Now, I'm feeling more relaxed. Yeah, I was worried because I didn't have an answer for what happened to Charles. If hell exists, that's where he is rotting right now.

I felt how eyelids got heavier... my mind got numb...

Bree mentioned a door! Isabella's becoming translucent!

What does it mean?

**EPOV**

"Carlisle! What brings you over here?"

I patted his back, and led him to the living room. His visit wasn't unexpected, because I asked him to come over for his tapes. I also wanted him to distract Bella for a day, while I take Alice with me for Bella's ring. I'm ready to propose now that I hope she will say yes.

"Well, besides my tapes? I'm wondering why did you asked me to set a day for Bella's visit. Is she ready to help me with my new invention?"

I smiled. Bella agreed last night to help him, maybe because she was too tired after the last session. Now, don't think I'm forcing her, she loves to help Carlisle when she can. It's just that sometimes she doesn't understand what he expects from her; like he speaks in another language. Now, I only have to ask him to be very specific of his expectations.

"Yeah, we talked about it yesterday, and she agreed."

He beamed.

"With the condition..."

"Oh man!"

"With the condition that you ask, down to the last detail, what do you want her to do. Not like the last time when you assumed we all knew when you were talking about 'the kernel' that you weren't talking about corn."

He blushed. That was very funny... when he explained what he was talking about.

"I promise to be extremely specific with her. Why do you want to keep her busy?"

Now it was my turn to blush.

"I want to buy her ring, you know, I'm going to propose."

"Congratulations! I'm so happy for you. So you don't mind that Seth is going to be around her the whole day."

"No, I trust her. As a matter of fact, are you sure you want Seth around delicate machinery while Bella is around?"

We laughed. Yeah, that will be funny.

"Nah, I think he needs to see by himself that Bella only wants him as a friend. He was very depressed after he found out she was living with you."

Oh.

"Don't worry. He has to get over it. He never stood a chance. Now, take my to the new tapes. I'm very close to finish the process to watch them."

"What?"

"Now, we can only see a few shadows around things. Nothing is clear. I need to get another process for the tapes to show the real nature of the shadows."

"Don't you think digital recording is better?"

"Not for this kind of recording. Tape with my process will be better to capture whatever is around Bella when she gets in trance."

xxxx

We were at the jewelry store. Alice was mad because I didn't like any of the rings she showed me on Tiffany's. What can I say? The ring has to make me think of Bella, not to be so ostentatious. This store, was smaller, but their designs were more delicate and original.

The man at the counter was showing me his last set of rings. I knew one of these would be perfect.

Alice was tapping her shoe. She said I was worst than her, but this ring had to be something special. It was for Bella.

"Oh and this one, is set in platinum with a two carat princess cut diamond. Your girl doesn't mind if the diamond is blue, right?"

The ring was perfect. So delicate but at the same time, had an intricate and original design. It will look perfect on her hand.

"Alice, what do you think?"

She had to admit this one was perfect for Bella.

We left the store, and got back to Carlisle's lab. Alice promised me to keep the ring hidden, while I planned the best way to propose. I was thinking about a weekend in a little bed and breakfast we passed on the tour. Alice thought it would be perfect.

When we got to the lab, Jasper's car was parked next to a blue mini cooper, probably Seth's car.

Alice knocked the door, but it was open. We came inside and it was awful. Chaos everywhere. Tools lying around, a table turned over, smoke coming out of one of the machines...

"Bella? Carlisle?"

We walked to the office. You could hear some noises...

I opened the door of the office...

"And then Seth dropped the box..." a chorus of laughter accompanied Jasper's comment.

Bella, Carlisle and Jasper were seated, with several beer bottles. It would explain the laughter.

"Hey Edward! Alice!" Carlisle waved a hand.

"Today was the funniest day of my life!" Bella yelled.

"Shh. Not so loud." Jasper also yelled.

The three of them were dishevelled, dirt on their clothes and Bella had her pony tail crooked.

"What happened here?" Alice asked, dusting Jasper's shirt.

"Well, remember when you told me to keep Seth away from Bella..."


	17. Chapter 17

**EPOV**

The three of them were dishevelled, dirt on their clothes and Bella had her pony tail crooked.

"What happened here?" Alice asked, dusting Jasper's shirt.

"Well, remember when you told me to keep Seth away from Bella..."

"Don't tell me that Seth caused all this chaos?"

They answered with a chorus of laughter.

"It was like that domino effect. First, Seth was calibrating one set of electromagnetic field probes. Oh God! It was so funny!" Jasper couldn't even talk.

"The machine made a noise, like a wolf-whistle. Then Bella thought Seth was the one who made the noise. So she turned and glared to him."

"Hey! In my defense it happened just when I passed in front of him."

"Seth was so ashamed, that he ran and put the probe on a table."

"Did he dropped the probe?" Alice was eager to know what happened, but the three stooges over here, were taking their time to tell the story.

"No, but his foot kicked the table next to him... it had a box with screwdrivers, a hammer and various knickknacks." Carlisle continued. He was the most coherent from them.

"The hammer flew 'til it fell on Jasper's foot. And he jumped. When he jumped he dropped the bag he was carrying, with little packets of salt."

"Why do you need salt?" Really, why does he need it? Then Carlisle blushed. Aha! So salt is part of his weird experiments that I'm supposed to know nothing about.

"Well, it's an important material for my research. In certain old cultures..."

Bella stood and put a finger on Carlisle's lips. "Shh. When you start talking like that, we lose interest. We don't understand, ok. Just keep it light. You use salt for your experiments, big deal. Now continue. Jasper dropped the salt..."

"Right. Jasper dropped the salt, and some of it fell in one of the containers that use to keep some things at high temperatures. Those over there." He pointed to one corner of the lab, where one big metal box was now all burned. "The container was on, I don't know why, and it burned the plastic of the packets and the smoke turned on the alarm..."

"Which caused the sprinklers to turn on, and the water caused a short-circuit that made another container explode. See, that's what I call a domino effect." Bella smiled.

Alice was dusting Jasper. "And what about Seth?"

Bella blushed. "His clothes suffered severe damage. See Carlisle, I can speak like you."

"What do you mean with severe damage?"

"Now I know he uses briefs." She wriggled her brows. I would get jealous if it wasn't so funny.

"Are you seeing other men's nether regions?" I took Bella into my arms and kissed her silly.

But Alice was really worried about Seth.

"Where is he?"

"In the shower." Carlisle pointed to a door in te back of his little office. As on cue, Seth came out, all showered and changed. He took a look around and when he saw Bella was in my arms, his smile faltered.

"Sorry Bella, I really didn't make any noise."

Bella walked to him, and patted his arm.

"I know, it's me who should apologize Seth. I'm sorry, I really thought you were joking. Now look all the mess I caused."

Carlisle smiled.

"We're fine and that's what it's important. I may have to recruit you and Edward to clean, otherwise, everything is fine."

"But your equipment..."

"Most of the mess is water and things that fell but aren't broken. Those containers, that were supposed to be turned off, possibly are broken. We need to fix them anyway. As far as I can see, nothing else is broken."

xxx

After the lab debacle, I took Bella home. We needed some time alone to plan our weekend escapade.

"Hey, beautiful." I came out of the bathroom, already showered with my boxers on. I didn't want to waste time.

She was reading on bed. Some mystery book about a detective woman in Australia in the twenties. Miss Fisher or something like that.

"Wait, I'm about to read who killed the girl..."

She was so cute, all concentrated... so I decided to get her attention. You can't go wrong with Joe Cocker.

So I put the music on... cue the first notes of 'You can leave your hat on'

And the beginning of the worst strip tease of all times.

I tried to shake my hips, let me say that I consider that I'm not a bad dancer. But my coördination was absent today.

Bella looked over her book.

I sauntered to the foot of the bed, turned around and shook my ass.

Bella dropped her book, and tried to hide her giggles.

I spanked my butt and shook it again.

Her giggles were louder.

With a slow cadence I pushed my boxers down my legs. I stumbled back to the bed when the boxers reached my knees...

"Oh Edward! Come over here, let me do that for you!"

Mission accomplished. Now I only have to convince her to come with me this weekend.

**EsmePOV**

"So you were in that party where Chelsea had her last séance."

"Oh man. It was better that what you see in the movies! Something came out of the mouth of that girl!"

Yes. Phil was present on Chelsea's session. The one with the biggest physical manifestation.

Since my session, I've been investigating. I want to know how does it work. Why Isabella can do it? Maybe I could replicate one session, and then I wouldn't need her to talk to Bree. First I did some search on my computer, but there were lots of theories. You could not believe how weird were some of them, specially the ones that mentioned how to bring someone back. I need more clues to cut my options.

I talked to Chelsea, but now that I know how the sessions go, I was sure Chelsea only looked to Jared. She never noticed what happened to Bella. So I asked her if she had a friend who was sceptical, because that person probably was more observant. Turned out she had that person, her friend Phil. So here I was, trying to get something out of him.

"And while it came out, what was she doing?"

"She was humming. I thought she would act all dramatic, but she was only sitting there, humming. Then the fog came out."

"Really?"

"Sure. And the fog changed and then Jared's face was looking at us. Unbelievable."

"And what was Isabella doing?"

"Honestly, I didn't see. The fog covered her. But when Jared's hand came out, I'm sure I saw her vanishing. Probably it was a light effect. Because how could someone vanish and then get back to her normal self? It's impossible!"

Oh Phil! If you only knew...

"What do you mean with vanishing?"

"She got kinda translucent. Like you could see through her."

"I'm sure it was quite an experience."

"Yeah, it was. But Chelsea told me she doesn't make sessions anymore."

Ah, so Isabella asked her to keep it quiet too.

"Yeah, it's so sad."

xxx

Phil is very obnoxious, but he provided me with the confirmation I was searching. Isabella vanishes when the spirit comes. That's why she can't talk or answer when she gets in trance!

Now if I only could get the meaning of the door Bree mentioned...

* * *

Hi! So Esme is getting curious, and Edward stripping... he should keep on writing.

Now, I see that you are still angry about Buffy. Well, her part on the story is finished, we won't see her anymore. She had one little thing to do, and she did it. The explanation of what she did and the ending she deserves will come later in the story. The only reason why she was the one who led Bree after they died, was that Buffy was the only spirit Bree knew. None of her relatives had died. Later Buffy introduced Bree to Granny's spirit, but Bree never met her, she died before Bree was born.

But yeah, she won't be in heaven.

I hope you like this chapter, things are going to move faster now.

See ya.

May


	18. Chapter 18

**Esme POV**

After my few discoveries, I asked Alice for a session. I felt like I could find more if I recorded the session, but the memory of that other spirit who went crazy when someone filmed it... No, I have to be more observant; I have to keep my eyes on Isabella while she's in trance. And I'm going to ask Bree what's the deal with the door.

There's something else bothering me. I've dreamed about Bree, I heard her voice, but something was different. She's been calling me, I felt it in my heart. Her voice sounded desperate, she said she needed me and how much she missed me. But there's something different in her.

The first two sessions, she told me what she was doing, how much she enjoyed being on the other side. She seemed so happy. This Bree on my dreams is quite needy. Maybe the spirits that watch the session didn't let her express how much she needs me. But they're supposed to help her to settle whatever to go to her next step. That's what I read. That those spirits are in some kind of limbo, where they settled unfinished business and then they go. Now, I can't figure out what a child has to settle. I mean, what did she do that keeps her on that limbo?

Anyway, Alice scheduled my session for tomorrow. I'm seriously considering buying one of those pens that had a tiny camera attached to the cap. But that other spirit... Alice just mentioned it went out of control, but it couldn't be too serious when Bella acquiesced to have my session the next day. And then, why does she get so weak? Chelsea mentioned that after her session Isabella seemed fine, tired but fine; but then she only saw her for like five minutes before Isabella left with her boyfriend.

xxx

Edward is explaining how they're making an experiment on my session. Something about magnets and sensors. I just noticed a few metallic boxes around the room. He asked me to turn off my phone, because he was worried the boxes could break it. Damn! There goes my plan to film the session.

Then Isabella sat next to me, she looked excessively happy. She asked me if I was ready and so we started.

She was humming, like always. The boxes were vibrating, and I think I heard a subtle buzz coming out of them.

I noticed how her body relaxed, her shoulders slumped and her eyelids got still. Her mouth opened slowly, and I noticed how the fog came out.

Her hands, that usually are pale, got almost white; making the soft pink on her nails to stand out. Her hands were getting blurry.

"Mother! I'm so glad to see you!"

Uh?! That didn't sound like my sweet Bree.

"Bree, is that you?" Her face was the same, but her eyes didn't have that soft innocent look, now they were full of mischief.

"Sure Mom, it's just I've been with Granny and her friends, and they say I have to improve my manners."

Well, they're from another time. It's possible...

"How had you been? I've dreamed about you."

"Oh Mother, it's so fabulous here! Granny took me to meet her parents. Did you know that one of your great aunts name was also Bree? I have a namesake!"

Yeah, that was true. That's why I chose the name, I liked it better than mine.

"I'm glad you're having a wonderful time. Hey sweetie, last time you mentioned a door. What were you talking about?"

"A door? Oh, it's a door that opens after I talk to you. But Granny told me to not open it. She said I wasn't ready."

Could it be that I'm the reason she hasn't left? Then, she still has something to do.

"What does she means when she said you weren't ready?"

"She said I have to talk to you, to be sure you'll be happy. Only then I can open the door."

Hmm, so I'm her unfinished business. As long as I need her, she will stay here.

This time I noticed how she was struggling to do something; then more fog came out of Isabella, and Bree's torso began to appear more solid.

"Mother, I want to hug you but I can't!"

I noticed how Isabella's face was blurry, Edward and Alice were restless. I needed to stop Bree before she screwed our chances for more sessions.

"Stop sweetie! I also want to hug you, but now we can't. You have to be patient and one day I promise we will be together."

Bree stopped her attempts, and she got quiet.

"Mother, now I have to go. Promise to come to visit soon."

"I promise sweetie. I love you."

"Love you Mother."

The fog vanished quicker than the other times. Isabella regain her color but she didn't wake up.

"Is she alright?" I had to ask, I couldn't let my chances to see Bree vanish.

Edward was immediately at her side.

"She will be. This is why we have to set the sessions the way we do. This was too intense and it will take her a few days to recover."

**EPOV**

Today was supposed to be the best day of my life if everything go as we planned it. But the first strike on my plans was Esme's session. Why? Because Bella slept for six hours after the session. Now, I don't understand what happened this time. Her daughter is usually well-behaved. The moment the girl started to force her presence, the boxes with the sensors got crazy. Carlisle asked to be present to watch the next session. And my poor girl awoke disoriented. It took her about an hour to recognize me or Alice. If this happened with a little child trying to give a hug to her mother, then I'm sure that time with Chelsea and her husband caused more damage.

I remember that Bella was kinda dizzy after that session, and I took her out for dinner. I remember how I asked her what kind of food she wanted, hoping to give her a good impression, but she chose a burger and fries from Burger King. We talked and flirted, but then after a couple of hours she asked me to drop her home. Of course I asked her for another date and she said yes. I got her number and dropped her with Alice. Now I know that Bella was struggling to stay awake to be with me, but her body was screaming for rest. Alice said she was smitten since day one.

The second strike was the call from Jenks, the lawyer. Apparently he had no problems proving the will on his hands, was the latest one Aunt Jane did. The only insignificant trouble were Alec's parents. They went missing! Now, they left some money behind so Alec could buy food, but that was all. Jenks suggested to hire a P.I. to search for them, because now he felt it was his duty to make sure Alec's wellbeing. Though I'm not sure how managing to keep Alec's parents with him helped to his wellbeing.

Now Bella is at the phone talking with Alice. I didn't think Alice would make a change in my plans, because she helped me to arrange all of it. But they'd been at the phone for two hours! I was pacing in our bedroom like a caged animal, while Bella was talking with Alice in the bathroom. All I heard were hushed whispers. We have to leave in a few minutes, so we could avoid the traffic. But no! They kept talking and talking. I know I sound like a whiny bitch, but I'm nervous and what if Bella feels she isn't ready for marriage? What if she wants to wait? If she thinks it's too soon...

Suddenly Bella was standing in front of me, suitcase in hand.

"I'm ready, and before you say anything, we're on time." She stood on her toes and gave me a kiss.

xxxx

Everything was going better than I planned. Our room at the B&amp;B was cozy, the scenery was wonderful, the old lady who greeted us when we arrived was very sweet to help me set the picnic basket for an early dinner and a proposal... maybe, if I find my balls.

At this moment I was leading the way through a long trail, to get Bella to our destination... the beautiful gazebo with a magnificent view of the forest. Our lunch was perfect, and we toasted to our host health and ability to make meat pie; well I hoped to have one more reason to toast later.

Bella was skipping and picking up flowers, her usual clumsiness forgotten. She was really excited, and I was hoping Alice didn't let slip my plans to her.

"Oh my God! Edward, this place is beautiful!"

Bella giggled, and took the basket from my hands.

"Come, let's take a seat and admire the fantastic view."

She pushed me to seat on the grass, but my main plan was to take her to the gazebos. I had a little box in my pocket to deliver at the gazebos.

"Wait, there's a place I want to show you."

She stood up with contagious enthusiasm, and I led her through the last patch of trees.

When we arrived, I heard her gasp.

"Edward, this place is absolutely beautiful!"

"Ah, hum, well, yes?" Suddenly, I wasn't capable to said coherent sentences.

"Hmm, Bella? Please, come over here."

Once we got inside the gazebos, she went to seat on the handrail. I exhaled, and got on one knee.

"I think I saw a deer over the..."

She turned and noticed my posture.

"Hmm, well, you'll see, since the first time I saw you, I knew you were special. I mean, you're truly the whole package. You're gorgeous, you have the kindest heart, a gentle soul and you're intelligent funny. You made my life worth to live..."

By now she was in tears, I'm sure she didn't notice that I planned my proposal to happen at sunset. And I was loosing my mind because why am I thinking in the sunset now?

"And I was thinking, that I want to share everything with you. I want us to grow old together, because I know with you by my side everything will be awesome. you make my life complete. Would you marry me?"

She dropped herself into my arms and said between sobs. "Yes, yes, absolutely yes!"

I took the ring from the little box, and put it in her finger. I kissed her hand, just because I could.

"You just had made me the happier man in the world."

I was wrong; she made me happier when we got naked and made sweet love in the gazebos five minutes later.

* * *

Hi! Sorry for posting now and not answering reviews. Work was a bit wild and I really needed a day off. I'll try to post the next chapter this Tuesday.

See ya :)

May


	19. Chapter 19

**Esme POV**

"But are you sure? I mean, she doesn't look very honest then."

Carmen came over to have lunch. Tomorrow she will be flying to Colorado with her husband. There was a big chance they'll have to move there and she wasn't excited about it. So now, I was telling her what happened at my last session and what I found in my new quest for information.

Yesterday I went to visit another medium. This one had all the right clothes, the turban, the crystal ball, tarot cards. I didn't want her to get in touch with Bree, what I really wanted was more information and Carmen thought that whatever came out of this woman was rubbish.

"She gave me the official reading. I will meet a new man, you know, tall and handsome. And I'm going on a cruise. He will take me to travel around the world..."

"But nothing about Bree."

"No, I only told her I was a widow. I hinted that my husband talked about a door, and how I feel lost without him. I wanted to know what she thought of the damn door. It freaked me out, when Bree told me that when she is ready she will go through it and I'm sure I'll never see her again."

"And what did she say?"

"She confirmed that the door was the way to the next step. But what really shocked me was that she hinted the possibility of bring someone back.I mentioned how I read about physical manifestations of spirits, hinting about Jared's hand or what the other spirit did to Isabella."

Carmen nodded. She was worried about what could happen to me. She said that it was obvious Jared loved deeply Chelsea, and that's why he didn't hurt her; but the other spirit blew things while he was angry. That possibility scares me too.

"Well, she mentioned that hypothetically, if the medium produced enough ectoplasm, the spirit could regain its physical form. Now, she mentioned that it wouldn't last because it takes too much from the medium, but its possible. Imagine, then Bree could give me that last hug!"

"But she said it was hypothetical."

"I saw how Isabella lends part of her to form the ectoplasm. I saw it! Now, Isabella is an adult, so to make Bree able to give me a hug, she would need a third part of her..."

"But you don't know it! Her friend told you that it takes a toll on Isabella. What if she gets hurt?"

"She recovered after those two. I mean, I noticed how it took a bit more from her after Jared's hand, but I know it's possible!"

"I don't know Esme. I think it's too dangerous... if you believe what that woman told you."

"Why not? The woman lacks of the gift, but she has the knowledge. She has hundreds of books in her waiting room."

"But you said it was all staged. What if she's just telling you what you want to hear?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. I have to try. Every damn night I dream of Bree. She says she wants to be with me, that she misses me!"

Oh not again! She was giving that pitiful look that I hated. In that moment I realized that she would never understand; of course, she had her daughter with her. She didn't know how it feels to hear her desperate pleas, to feel so helpless because you couldn't ease her pain...

"So what did your husband say about this new job?"

xxxx

Carmen left yesterday. Somehow, I knew I wouldn't see her again. She was a great friend, supportive most of the time, but between her moving to another state and her lack of empathy, I knew we wouldn't keep in touch. Yes, her husband convinced her to move, it was an impressive raise in his salary and his family was close. Carmen felt it would be better for Emily to live around her cousins.

And Chelsea was out-of-town with her mother... I felt so lonely.

I did the only thing that could ease my mind...

"Good afternoon Alice. It's Esme Platt. I was wondering if it was possible to schedule a session?"

**EPOV**

I was pacing on the living room. I couldn't believe it! After a weekend in heaven we returned to the week from hell.

First I found out that Alice had a bridezilla inside her. Well some kind of big-sister-of-the-bride-zilla. She's being pressuring us to set a date... within the range of six to eight months, which is the time she thinks it takes to plan a wedding and reserve the proper venue. Then she pushed Bella to her bedroom to measure her, so she could start with the design of the dress. Yes, the design. She said she knows exactly what Bella needed. and the details she'd been spewing and demanding were going on and on.

Then Esme Platt called asking for a session. Bella accepted, even if it was just to escape from Alice's madness.

It was the session from hell.

Carlisle was settled in the kitchen monitoring the sensors. He tried to interrupt the session when he noticed crazy values coming from the little boxes. Esme and her daughter got mad. The daughter tried to become more solid to hug her mother, and when Carlisle came to stop the session because he was concerned for Bella, the daughter got mad and started to yell and move things around. Esme became almost hysteric trying to ease her daughter and she demanded that Carlisle had to leave the room. Jasper saved the day, coming into the room. He gave some instructions to Carlisle, getting him out if sight. Then he eased the spirit, talking to her and promising a new session where she could talk to her mother again. I was so glad he never promised her the hug she was asking for. Then, when the spirit left and Bella was complete again, he eased Esme with a glass of wine. Alice confirmed that it was the worst session ever.

Bella was still sleeping... after twenty hours and I've paced since Esme left.

I'd never been so scared in my life! The thought of losing Bella for the tantrum of a scared child was so... Ugh!

Alice and her super awesome ability to see the future were useless this time. She said that sometimes it didn't work with children and she couldn't see the future at her will. She also was scared because once Bella gets in trance it's out of our control, we can't wake her up or force a spirit to go back.

That was the moment I decided to get Bella out of this.

I mean, she had to know by now how dangerous this 'helping the spirits' business was. If only I could convince her to retire...

My other concern, was that Jenks called us again. He had everything set up for Alec, he just had to sign some papers and all of Aunt Jane's possessions were his. The sad news was that they finally found Alec's parents. Dead. They were locked up in an old apartment and they overdosed. They didn't leave a note for Alec. We didn't know if it was an accident or if they planned to end their lives. I asked Jenks to wait, I promised to take Alec with him so we could tell him the news.

"Uh, Edward?"

My angel was standing at the door of our bedroom. I brought her home, so she could rest as long as she needed. And now she was up.

"Love, how do you feel?"

"Dizzy. What happened?"

"What was the last thing you remember?"

She bit her lip, her brows frowning.

"We were at Esme's session? But I heard voices. One sounded like your voice. You were asking me to wake up, and one little girl was screaming that she wanted her mother."

"Yeah, and then when you came back, you slept."

I walked to her side, and held her in my arms.

"But Edward, I never hear the voices while I'm in trance."

"This time was different Bella. The child went crazy, she was trying to grow arms and hug her mother! She threw all the cups and plates to the other side of the room!"

"Really? Poor girl, she must had felt so scared."

"Bella, we could had lost you."

"Oh, I don't think so. She was trying to get her mother..."

"No Bella. This is the second time she went out of control. It's dangerous to talk to a child."

"And Alice didn't see it, because children are unpredictable."

"Baby, if I ask you something, do you promise to think about it?"

"Maybe. I think I know what you want."

"Love, I'm not the only one who think it would be better if you stop giving the sessions."

"Oh no Edward! Imagine poor Marcus without talking to his wife..."

"Bella, even sweet Didyme went crazy the last session."

"Really? I didn't know."

"Bella, please, I'm begging you. Leave the sessions. It's too dangerous."


	20. Chapter 20

**EPOV**

_"Bella, please. I'm begging you. Leave the sessions. It's too dangerous."_

She hung from my arm, I felt how weak and dizzy she was.

"Come on, let's go back to bed."

"But I just woke up."

"I want to show you something."

While Carlisle hasn't finished to reveal the extra layer of the tapes, he give me a disc with the normal version of Bella's lasts sessions. She needed to watch for herself what happens when she's out.

I put the disc on, and paused it.

"Bella, I'm going to show you some of our last sessions. Please, look at what happens to you while the spirits get crazy, ok?"

She nodded.

I let the video go on. While Didyme spirit was growing angry, Bella paled when she noticed how she started to vanish from the screen.

"I-I go-t bl-urry?"

"Every time you lend a part from your body to create the ectoplasm for the spirit to appear."

Then last session was on.

With every struggle the little girl made to create arms, her body was blurrier on the screen. Finally, Bella ran from the bed to the bathroom to throw up.

I went to her side, and held her hair.

"I didn't know."

She got up and washed her mouth. Her eyes were so sad.

"I feel terribly sorry. I mean, I know you worry, your eyes have that pained look." She gently caressed the dark circles under my eyes.

"I'm not the only one. Alice is ready to kick some supernatural butts."

"But I never noticed it was like this. I get lost when I'm in trance, and the only time I'm aware of the spirits it's when I try to contact them first. Usually they're peaceful. Someone must had made Didyme get angry, you said she's very calm."

I sat on the bed and pulled her to my lap.

"So Bella, what do you want to do? The only three clients you have, are in a point where you can leave them and they'll be fine. Didyme said she only wanted to say goodbye, so she already said what she had to say to Marcus. This Esme seems peaceful at the moment, her daughter is the one that struggles, but she's a child. Obviously she misses her mother. And let's not forget Alec. He's practically set, what we have to do with him, are things on this realm."

"Oh poor Alec! Does he knows his parents died?"

"Not yet. I want to talk to him. Somehow, I think he trust us more than he will ever trust that lawyer. And he seems a bit cold. I believe it's better we tell him."

She got quiet for a minute. I wished I could read her mind to know how to explain how much we worry about her.

Finally she said. "You're right."

"About Alec?"

"And about the sessions. We just have to find a way to let them down easily."

"Alec won't be a problem, he's our friend apart from the sessions. Honestly I'm more worried about Esme. "

"I thought Marcus would be the problem."

"Nah. He's so ashamed that he probably will say thank you. But that Esme... I noticed she was more worried about her deceased daughter than for the alive medium."

"Well, it's her daughter, I'm just a service provider."

"No, that's the problem Bella! You risk your life every time you contact their dead loved ones. It's not a mere service, it's your life!"

She gasped. I guess she never had seen me so angry.

"And mine too. You know I'll be lost without you, I need you like the air to breath."

She hugged me so tight...

"I know, and I need you too. I love you too much! I never noticed what happened while I was.." She huffed. "Have I ever told you how I lost my parents?"

"Only that they died in a car accident."

"Ok, Mom also could see the spirits, but she never could act as a channel to bring them here. She could sense them, and sometimes when she got in trance, she could talk to them. But she never could produce ectoplasm. So she helped by talking to the spirits. One day, she noticed that I could produce ectoplasm. It was a tiny manifestation. I fell and got unconscious, and the ectoplasm came out of my mouth. My mother was terrified; so she got in touch with other people like us, and she found how unique my ability was. But one of those people got envious. He harassed my mother to try to get closer to me. She knew what kind of person he was, Alice warned her about him. So my father talked to him, hoping to make him let it go. He was intimidating when he wanted. But... one day Alice got a vision, and she and my mother talked. They decided it was better to face the man, but my father didn't let my mother to go alone... That man caused the accident, and he also killed himself. My mother told me to be afraid of the living, not the dead ones. She said that when they're on the other side, they hurry to settle their unfinished business while they have the chance, so they could go to their next stage. Just settle, never harm, never getting revenge. Just closing circles. But the living, they hurt and lie to get what they want. So I thought that I could help some spirits to close those circles faster. Aunt Jane, which other way she had to help Alec? Chelsea was on her way to suicide, talking to Jared cured her."

"But love, when you help them, sometimes they hurt you. You were so weak after Jared's stunt. And Alice mentioned one spirit who hugged her daughter."

"Ah, yeah. That was one accident. But if I'm honest, I get weaker now than before. You're right. I have to quit. Now, I'll try to get in touch Didyme, Jane and that child. Just to let them know it's over."

**Esme POV**

Since that dreadful session, my dreams got worst. Bree cries and calls me every night. I don't know what to do.

I thought calling Alice, but I knew she would rebuff me. She only cared about her precious Isabella. Well, she was the means to an end. She's the only way I could talk to my daughter.

Perhaps another session with Miss Underwood... she only tells me what she thinks I want to hear, but she has a lot of knowledge and that awesome collection of books...

I settle again with a glass of wine. Maybe tonight I needed something more. I remember I kept a tequila bottle in the pantry... it was a gift from Carmen. She told me it was a great brand. Yeah. Don Julio. Here it is. Well, Don Julio and I will get acquainted.

_'Mommy, Mommy! Listen. You have to help me. I want to get out of here.'_

_'But sweetie, that's impossible...'_

_'No Mom, I could get out of here. I know how.'_

_'Just..._

Ah! I woke up sweating. It was that dream again. Every night I felt Bree so close... but something was different. Bree was always so pleasant, and now she sounded so pushy. Maybe she was desperate. Then maybe it was the tequila, because I drank a quarter of the bottle.

xxx

The next three days I had the same dream. Bree calling me and asking me to help her. It was getting ridiculous! So I tried to wake me up and write whatever I remember of the dream. I was sure she was trying to tell me something...

The first two days I only got cries for help, and the sensation that her message was bigger. So I set my alarm to wake me every two hours.

This time I got more, something about how she knew the way out.

_'Mommy, listen to me. I have a plan to get out of here.'_

_'Are you sure it will work?_

_'Sure Mommy, now listen..._

This time it worked.


	21. Chapter 21

**Hi! You may want to fasten your seatbelts. This is where the story gets rough. See you at the end.**

* * *

**EPOV**

After Bella made the decision of retiring, things got easier. One afternoon, she got in that half trance state and found Aunt Jane; she thought it was an excellent moment to retire and asked one more session to say goodbye to Alec; Bella told her she didn't feel quite capable of getting in trance like before, but agreed to have Alec present while she talked to Jane like this.

Later, we discussed it with Alice, and we agreed that in this way we could set Marcus and Esme too. Bella won't be in danger, and she would be able to ask whatever they want to say to their loved ones before giving their last goodbye.

Alice settled the sessions, and we had Alec first. The easier one.

"Come on! Just one beer!"

Right now Alec was trying to get Carlisle to give him a beer before the session. Carlisle didn't have any experience with teenagers, so he was nervous of what the beer could do to Alec. I offered him that after the session he could have one beer, to celebrate with us not only that he's going to college, but the fact that Bella is retiring and we set the date for our wedding. In four months Isabella Swan will become Isabella Cullen. I was giddy just thinking about it.

"No, go and ask Edward. I don't think prudent to have a beer before the session. What if you get drunk?" Carlisle settled his camera again, decided to film the last of Bella's sessions. He told me that the first tapes were ready and he would show us after we finished with the three lasts sessions.

"But Edward won't give me anything! He's so prude and you're so cool Carlisle."

Yeah, he was using his charm with Carlisle but to no avail. Bella came to rescue Carlisle.

"Is everything set? We only have two hours before Marcus comes. Remember Alec, it will only last fifteen minutes. Just say how much you love her and she will be happy."

Bella took her seat at the head of the table. Alice pushed Carlisle aside and seated in front of me. Jasper smiled at his eager wife, and led Carlisle to the kitchen, where they set their equipment. This session was about to begin.

Bella hummed and smiled. This time she wouldn't get lost in herself, but she would be aware of her surroundings.

"Oh, hi Jane! What do you want to say to Alec?" Her sweet voice asked to the spirit, waiting for an answer only she would hear.

xxx

Alec offered to help Carlisle and Jasper on the kitchen, while Marcus had his session. He was delighted to had the chance to help. He told me how glad he was when Jane told him how proud she was, and sad because she said she didn't have seen his parents. But I told him we don't know how they work on the other side; maybe they will meet soon.

I settled Marcus on the table; he was apologizing again for any trouble his son and his wife caused.

Marcus was blushing, he was too embarrassed by how Didyme and Demetri behaved the last session, and he told me he felt that Bella's decision to retire was his fault. I told him it was a part of that decision, but there were more things involved.

Bella hummed again. She was decided to close this chapter on her life, and the peace we felt after Aunt Jane last goodbye, encouraged to continue with this second-to-last session.

"Oh, hi Didyme! No, you don't have to worry. Sure! He proposed and we will get married in four months, yeah could you imagine it?" Bella was beaming at whatever Didyme was telling her.

"Ok, anything you want to say to Marcus?"

Marcus was at the edge of his chair, he knew it was the moment to really say goodbye. He told me he was glad to have the chance to tell her how much he loves her one more time. And I think Didyme was also glad to let her thoughts clear before she left for the last time.

Bella turned to Marcus. "She says she loves you too much to see you fighting with your son. She hopes that her last talk helped."

Marcus had a smile on his face.

"He got it, crystal clear. Now he's caring and he's the one taking me to my doctor appointments. He even watered her garden!"

Bella repeated his words to Didyme. She had the biggest smile on her face. "Do you think it's wise to mention it to him? Ok. Marcus, she says she knows something that will keep you happy in the future. You'll have an addition to your family, a grandson. Now, it's secret until your daughter in law reaches her first trimester, but soon she'll tell you. Now, whats a better reason to take your medicine and continue with your diet, uh?"

Bella's bright eyes and beaming smile reminded me why she endured this sessions for so long. But it was time to leave this behind. Only one more and she will be done with the other world.

**Esme POV**

I checked again my bags and my purse. Everything was ready. I needed to gt to my last session on time.

Yesterday I got two calls that certainly changed my life.

The first one was from Alice. She explained to me that Isabella was retiring, and she wanted to give me one chance to talk to Bree before she moved to pursue another career. Just like that. All my hopes to reconnect with Bree went to the drain. I was so angry... But then Jenks called. Harry Sanders was killed in jail. Apparently he pissed off the wrong guy. Sue escaped when she found out. Jenks was worried she would come for me. He said he would call when he had more information, but asked me to lock all the doors and windows, just in case.

I took my afternoon nap, it was one of the times I heard Bree's voice. I felt like I was talking to her. It soothed me.

In my dreams, I told her about Isabella retiring and how I was worried about Sue.

In my dreams she answered me. She came with a plan so perfect... it was a wonder such a little child could think of it.

I called Jenks and told him about my decision. He thought it was a great idea and he gave me some advice. He helped me to settle my plan, well the bit I told him.

Now, I'm going to Isabella's for my last session.

xxx

"Good evening Esme! Come and take a seat."

"Hi Edward. I brought a bottle of champagne, I heard this is a time to celebrate!"

He blushed. Sometimes I found it hard to picture him as the famous writer, and not the bashful man in front of me.

"Hmm, err, sure. Let me bring the champagne flutes."

"Did you set a date for the wedding?"

"In four months. We want a simple cozy wedding."

He brought the flutes to the room where all the session were held; I noticed a couple of blond men and a teenager apart from Alice. I hoped one bottle was enough.

"Come on, let's toast for the happy couple." I opened the bottle and poured the champagne. Isabella mentioned she didn't like to drink before one session, but I convinced her to get a couple of sips.

"To new beginnings."

Everybody said cheers. Even the boy. That one would get wasted with the champagne. His first champagne binge... it sounded so romantic.

I encouraged them to have another drink, only Isabella abstained.

"Well Esme, let's begin."

"Sure, I hope you don't have any problem reaching Bree. Children are so difficult sometimes."

"Don't worry, she was eager to have one last talk."

Sure, I knew how eager she was.

When Isabella hummed, I noticed the eyes of Edward dropping. He had three drinks. He was making an enormous effort to keep his eyes open but... Alice wasn't so far behind. She was so petite... two drinks were more than enough. I hoped the other men... Ha. Someone was snoring in the kitchen. Perfect.

Isabella kept humming, and I knew I had to help her to get in trance.

"You know Isabella, there's no greater love than the one a mother has for her child. One would sacrifice her life in order to get her child out of danger. Imagine when the price isn't her life, but other things... like the life of a worthless medium. You had what, like twenty-five years with your family. Well, I didn't get at least ten." My soft voice and the monotone tone I used got her in complete trance. I knew I could do it.

The blueish fog came from her mouth, but now, with the aid of the drug I put in the champagne, it came quickly. Forming the sweet face of my daughter.

"Mommy!"

"Bree, you have to hurry. Push your way out of that fog. I don't want to wake them."

After fifteen minutes, the plan came to fruition. Finally, my daughter was here.

"Come on Bree. We have a long way to go..."

* * *

Before you kill me for this cliff, I want to tell you that Agatha Christie's story ended here. Awful, right? I didn't like that end, so I will continue with the story. Now, I'll try to post the next chapter tomorrow, but RL is pretty demanding right now, so I don't want to promise anything. I'll do my best to keep you from this awful cliff.

See ya.

May


	22. Chapter 22

**Esme POV**

I had to drive fast, but not fast enough to have the police chasing me. It would take a few more hours for them to wake up. I didn't know if what I did could count as murder. I didn't touch her. She lent her body so Bree could come back. Well, she didn't volunteer but I want to see how they could prove I killed her. I didn't know if she was dead or alive. I was so glad I brought Bree's clothes. This dress looked so cute... but now I find it a bit loose on her.

"Mommy, where are we going?"

"Oh, we're going to a new house. We need to have a fresh start."

"Why?"

"Because there's a bad lady that wants to hurt Mommy. We don't want that."

Oh my sweet Bree. Her eyes were big like plates.

"No Mommy. I will protect you."

"What do you want to eat? Maybe we could stop on the way and get a burger."

"Chicken fingers!"

"Sure Bree. Whatever you want."

xxx

After twelve hours crammed in the car, we finally arrived. Jenks helped me find a house for rent, without displaying my name. He thought it was to hide from Sue, only I knew it was to hide from the fury of Isabella's friends.

A blond woman was fixing something under the hood from a red car. Well, we have to meet our new neighbors sometime, right? And I have to teach Bree manners.

"Come Bree, let's say hello to our new neighbor."

I opened the door and helped Bree to get out of the car. The blond woman turned to look at us. Wow! She was beautiful.

"Good afternoon." Bree said, smiling to the woman.

"Well, what do we have here. Good afternoon, gorgeous."

"Hi. I'm Esme Platt, and this is my daughter Bree. We just move."

"Hi, Rosalie Hale. My husband and I had lived here for a while. You'll like the neighborhood. Very nice people, and it's very peaceful. Ideal for kids who like to play on the yard." She winked at Bree, but didn't offer her hand to shake. "Sorry, my hands are dirty with oil. I'm changing it and giving the car a tune."

"Oh, wow. I'm afraid I only know how to take it to the mechanic."

"Oh, that's my hobby. Repairing cars. Whenever you want me to take a look at yours, it wouldn't be a problem."

I turned to the car, we have too many things to do and I was tired.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, I think I'll see you around. It's just I'm tired and have to unpack..."

"Oh, don't worry. I'm glad we meet. Whatever you need, just knock on our door."

I smiled and pushed Bree toward the house. I opened it and thought of sending Jenks a gift basket. It was furnished with taste and when we went to the kitchen, it already had groceries!

I think we had a great start.

**EPOV**

I felt like someone was punching me. My head hurt, my body felt... where I was?

Suddenly it all came to me. The session, the toasts, the champagne... I turned around and noticed that Alice was passed out on the table and Bella... Shit! Bella!

She was blurry on her chair. The blue fog surrounding her like an aura. I lifted my hand, tried to touch her, but Iwas scared. What if I hurt her?

What the hell happened here?

I went to the kitchen, where Carlisle was waking up, while Jasper and Alec were passed out on the floor.

"Carlisle, can we watch what happened on the session?"

He was still stunned, but he pressed a few buttons, and the session replayed on the monitor.

"This layer doesn't have sound, we have to work with it to hear..."

He got quiet when he noticed how Esme waited 'til we fell asleep on the table to talk to Bella. The fog came out of her mouth... The head of the little girl came on, looking more solid with every second. Esme said something else to the girl and soon Bella got smaller and blurrier. She was just a shadow of what we were used to. The little girl grew arms and her torso. Her face showed hos she was struggling and then... she had legs! Esme pulled her hand and dressed her. Then she gave the little girl a kiss on her forehead and they left.

"Shit!" Yeah, Carlisle was as shocked as I was.

"She's just fog now Carlisle. What am I going to do?"

"Let me check her, if the fog is still floating in the air, her clothes are still on, then she's alive. We have to find that girl and bring her here so Bella can recover the rest of her body. God, this is so wrong!"

Yeah, wrong and scary. I failed her.

I kneeled besides Bella, while Carlisle was checking her. He told me to not try to touch her in any way, we could break a bone if we weren't careful, because once she recovers the rest of her body, we may had damaged something.

"According to my calculations, we still have 68 percent of her body mass. Now we have to find a way to contain her body until we bring the little girl here."

I recalled that day at his lab, one of the containers that burnt...

"Carlisle, could we keep her in one of those containers you have at your lab?"

"Sure, but we have to take some preventive measures. Bring me salt, lots of it."

I ran to the kitchen where Jasper was waking up.

"What happened?"

"Look at the video." I said while I took a container with a white dust. I tasted it... yeah, it was salt. I ran to Carlisle's side again.

"Here. What does the salt do?"

He was pouring it around the place where Bella sat.

"It helps to contain her. I hope it manages to keep her mass and her spirit inside, and doesn't give the chance to another spirit to try to take over her body."

I nodded and pushed the other chairs to the back of the room. We needed to get the area where Bella laid clear.

"Now, I think we have to measure. One of the containers will be big enough but I want to be sure, because we're going to modified it. It has a panel of glass, but I think I will substitute it with one thicker. Just in case."

Jasper came running.

"Oh God! Poor Bella!" He pushed softly Alice's shoulder. "Sweetie, wake up. Wake up. Something awful happened."

Alice opened her eyes but clearly she wasn't awake.

"Alice, something bad happened to Bella."

This woke her.

"What?" She turned to the place where Bella's blurry body was.

"Damn! It was Esme, right? But how? We were very careful..."

"She drugged us, look, she never drank from her flute."

"That bitch!"

I gave a step back and noticed something on the floor. A necklace with a butterfly pendant.

Alice's eyes got wider. "Renee told us to get her away from butterflies!"

I wasn't in the mood to hear about their flawed vision. How was it possible she never noticed that something was amiss with Esme?

She touched my shoulder.

"Esme's pain flawed my vision. Whenever I tried to watch over her future, all I could see was pain. Then, for a while, I saw her having a life, a future with her friends. But the little girl, the one from my vision, was the same that left with her. Edward, I saw her! But how would I know she planned to get away with her daughter? We never thought it was possible to come back from the other side!"

In that moment I didn't know who was crying louder, Alice or me. But I was sure of one thing, I was ready to fight to get my girl back.

* * *

Hi!

Well, because I didn't had the chance to post yesterday I'm doing it now at work, so shh don't tell my boss ;)

Edward won't let Esme steal what she took from Bella, and now Carlisle's moment to shine finally came. Hope you liked it.

See ya.

May


	23. Chapter 23

**EPOV**

I shook my head, we had to move fast to get Bella back to normal.

"Carlisle, what do you need to get that container working? How long will it take?"

I gotta admit that Carlisle was moving really fast. He had a piece of paper full of numbers and lines, and was using the calculator from his phone.

"If Seth brings me what I need... about four to six hours. It's mostly assembly, but it will require a few modifications. Jasper, do you think he could carry those steel panels by himself? Maybe you could help him while I get everything set over here."

Jasper nodded and went to him for the list of materials.

I turned to Alice. Where is the information you gathered about Esme before her sessions? I'm going back to her house, but I'm afraid she left already."

Alice was back with a thick file. It gave me hope.

"You know how she made me nervous, so I dug deeper. Here's her home address, and I have also the ones from her friends, Carmen and Chelsea. Here is the telephone from her parents, but I don't think she would had let them know she got Bree back. You have to understand that she couldn't let anybody know."

"Right. Let's go to her home, maybe we could find something there."

Alice stood still, like a lightning struck her.

"What's wrong Alice? What are you seeing?" If only she had that vision twelve hours before...

"There's a spirit around here. Someone's very worried."

"Well, I'm alive and truly worried. Maybe if that spirit had the decency of warning Bella..."

"Alec!" She ran to the kitchen, I admit I forgot about him.

Alec was still unconscious, but he was moving his eyelids like he was having an intense dream.

"Should we wake him?"

Alice shook her head and we waited.

"Should we wake him up?"

"I don't know. Maybe the drug was too strong for him."

"Alice, don't get me wrong. He only drank one flute and he weights probably the double that you weight."

Alec woke up, disoriented.

"Where am I? What happened?"

"Alice show him the video. I'm going to Esme's house."

"No wait. We'll go together. Let Carlisle and Jasper work."

xxxx

Esme's house was really nice. I parked the car, while Alice and Alec walked to the door. They were talking since we left the house, something about Alec dreaming with his Aunt Jane. When Alice was about to knock on the door, guess who opened it?

"Mr. Jenks? Shit! We have the wrong address. We thought Esme Platt lived here." Alec, with his lack of filter, said.

"Oh no. You have the right address. Let me guess, you're friends of Sue Sanders trying to..."

"Who's Sue Sanders?" Alec asked.

"Why are you here?" Jenks was clearly getting impatient.

"Esme Platt came to a reunion in my house, and she... she stole something very valuable. We want it back." Alice said to Jenks, before Alec said something to put him in a worst mood.

"Why does everybody want to take advantage of her? Just because she has money..."

"Wait! She comes to our house, takes something we cherish and you blame us?" I was the one annoyed now.

"How much?"

"Excuse me?"

"How much do you want?"

"We don't want money, we want what she took. It's something you can't buy with money; by the way, I have more than enough money." I huffed.

Jenks stood quiet for a minute, finally he told us that he would call Esme and late he let us know what he found. obviously ignoring the lack of logic in his argument. Esme would deny even knowing us.

xxxx

When we got back, Carlisle, Jasper and Seth were setting the fourth panel on the container. It was attached to the floor, so they didn't have to move or touch the chair where Bella sat.

"I have news, not sure how bad they are."

Alice helped Seth to clean the glass panel, before they put it in front of Bella.

"Look over here. See this mark. It was made over Bella's skirt when I first measured. It moved three millimeters. It's easier to use millimeters for my calculations. Now considering how tall Bella was, and how much she weighted I found the rate of compression."

"Compression?"

"Yes. The molecules of Bella's body are getting closer again, we have a certain amount of time to recover the rest of her before they... well, try to bond again and end... it would kill Bella. Anyway according to my calculations, which I know you have no interest to know about, we have a week before Bella's body gets to the point when... well, before it collapses."

"Shit! We only have a week, and that asshole Jenks will warn Esme about our plans."

Alice patted my arm. "Honey, she was aware that we would fight. Now, let's see where else we can search."

Alec smiled. "In her house?"

"But how will we get in? Jenks locked the door before he left. We saw him."

"With these keys." He pulled them from his pocket. "Jenks was dumb enough to hide them under the welcome mat. I took them when you were discussing about his jerkiness."

**Esme POV**

This chocolate chips pancakes were delicious! Now, I have to start exercising or I would end up looking like a whale.

Bree was playing with her dolls in the yard. I took a glance at her. She was so lovely! But I noticed a few changes since she came back. She didn't sleep. She ate only a few bites and prefered simple water over her favorite drink of cherry coke. And sometimes the way she speaks sounds way too different. Like she was older.

I need to buy more milk. I'm the one drinking it like there's no tomorrow. But look at her! She's so cute.

Jenks called me earlier in the morning. He asked me if I knew Edward Cullen. first I thought to deny it, but he's a famous writer. So I said I read a couple of his books. Jenks only asked me to be more careful. I guess they went and asked about me, but I was wondering how they found my relationship with Jenks.

I looked at the yard, but now Bree wasn't there. I dropped the cup I was holding and ran to the yard.

Bree was talking to someone... a blond woman. Oh it was our neighbor, Rosalie. She waved and say goodbye to Bree. I have to get used to have friendly neighbors.

Bree came running. "Look Mommy, Rosie gave me a popsicle. Can you open it for me?"

Yeah, I have to get used to company. Now I think I'll have to invite her to dinner or brunch?

I felt someone watching us, so I raised my glance. Perhaps Rosalie got back for something...

Shit. That woman behind the fence looked like Sue Sanders.


	24. Chapter 24

**Esme POV**

I locked the doors and closed the curtains. Bree said she didn't see anyone in front of the house, but I was sure it was Sue Sanders. What are the odds for her to find me here? Jenks didn't use my name to rent the house. Maybe she's following me.

"Mommy, I'm hungry!"

"Sure, sure honey. Let me call... do you want pizza?"

"Yey!"

She ran upstairs to her room. It was so easy to get her happy. Maybe she was right, there was no one outside and I'm paranoid. There was no way Sue would find me. I made sure to not leave a trail, otherwise that Edward or Alice would find me. They have the resources, not like Sue who's desperate and alone.

xxx

I saw our neighbor talking to Bree again. There's something in the way she looks at me that I don't like. The worst is that she expects me to come to get Bree, like she's expecting me to say something... I'm really getting paranoid. But just in case...

"Hi Rose!"

"Hi!"

This time she was biting her lip. Like she was nervous.

"Look Mommy, she gave me this cookie."

"What do you have to say?"

"Thanks Miss Rose. It's really yummy!"

Bree left skipping to the house, while Rose was looking at me like she wanted to ask something.

"It's a lovely day, right?" I asked. It unnerved me to stand up quiet with her. She intimidated me a bit.

"Yeah, it's great. Do you have a minute? I want to ask you something."

"Sure." I tried to walk to my door, but she led me to her garden instead.

Wow! She really took care of her garden. That wasn't one of my hobbies, but I can tell her roses were perfect.

"It's pretty, isn't it? Well, I'm not the one tending to it. We, most people on this neighborhood, hired old Mr. Black to do it. He's a very old man, and this is what we think is keeping him alive. To care for all the gardens around here."

Oh, now I think I know where this conversation is going.

"I'm not sure if I'd like to hire..."

"Oh no! I wouldn't push you to hire Mr. Black. Not with your situation.." Her last words were whispered very low but I got them. My situation? Did she know... No, no. It's probably because I'm new and I don't really know them. "What I want to ask you is if you would have a problem with him working on my garden. He's supposed to come here tomorrow, and he's very... peculiar."

"Well, it's your home. You can have anyone you want..."

"I think you don't understand me, let me explain it better. Tomorrow morning, if you see an old man in my garden, I don't want you to get scared or to call the police. He's so trustworthy, that he even gets into the house for coffee... even when we're out of the house. But he is an old man settled in his ways. He dresses in rags because he gets dirty working here, he's shy, and like I told you, he has access to the house for coffee or to use the bathroom when he finishes. It's just I think you'll be wary of a unkonwn man moving around my house... tomorrow when we'll be out working."

Oh. That's what worries her. That I get nervous with a man... oh, I have to warn Bree.

"I think I get your point. Is he skittish around children? I'll try to make Bree to stay inside, but you know how children are. She loves to play outside."

"Oh, I don't think that would be a problem. Like I told you, he's shy. He will stay in my garden, you'll notice when he warms to you because he will offer a rose button, or any flower he's working with. Well, now that I told you, I'll go back to finish dinner."

It's funny now that she explained it to me. Of course she would worry about the old man! If I was living in my old house and I noticed someone lurking in my neighbor's garden I would call the police. But she said he's trustworthy. Jesus, there' so much to get used to! I have to get into my thick skull that Rosalie is nice, she's not watching over me, nor trying to hurt me. I'm really getting paranoid.

I got into the kitchen and noticed the pantry open. I didn't leave it like that... oh Bree! She probably tried to get some candy, not that she's eating a lot. Hmm, what's missing? I had a plastic container over here, it was blue with cows. What was in it? Oh, right, salt. Salt? Why did she take the salt?

**EPOV**

It was the middle of the night when we broke into Esme's house. This was the moment that I knew neither of us was cut to this kind of job. Except Alec. Firstly, we all tried to dress dark clothes, but Carlisle didn't have a dark shirt, so he has a pale grey sweater and a light blue shirt. Then Alice thought her five-inch heeled black boots would be ok... until her heel got stuck in the mud. Jaspers shoes creaked. And I forgot to bring a hat or a beanie. My hair is kinda noticeable. Alice gave me a black scarf to cover my hair. Seth... we decided he was better in the car, checking if anybody notice our entrance. You know how he drops things when someone mentions Bella.

Alec opened the door swiftly, and let us in. He used his lantern to light the way around the floor.

"Where do you want to start? It's obvious she didn't set up any alarm."

"But the control box is over here." I pointed, though I think it would be weird to have them call to tell you someone broke into your house, when you're on the run because you stole the body of another woman. The box was off, maybe she cancelled and they didn't have the chance to uninstall the alarm.

Alice turned on a lamp near the stairs.

"This will help us and I'm sure no one would see it from the outside, I asked Seth. I'm going to her bedroom, you guys look out for a library or an office room. Edward come with me, you'll look into the other rooms."

xxx

Four hours later, I was tired and ready to get out of here. Esme must have lived only a few months in this house, it was scarcely furnished and the only rooms with trinkets were her bedroom and a study downstairs, where we found only pictures of her with the little girl and a few papers about some Charles Evenson.

"Look, the answering machine is beeping." Alec found it, under a table.

_Beep._

_Hi Esme, it's Carmen. I didn't hear about you for a while, how are you? We just got settled and found a school for Emily. So now I have more time. Call me._

_Beep._

_Esme, where are you? It's Chelsea and you, naughty girl, stood me up for this party. My friend Phil is over here, and I think he has a crush on you. He said he's ready to visit any medium you want. Call me._

I smiled, Chelsea was tipsy.

_Beep._

_Esme, its Carmen again. How are you? I hope you're not feeling depressed again. I know it hurts to live without Bree, but you have to move on for her. Call me._

_Beep._

_He's dead. _

That was creepy. You could only hear the heavy breathing on the phone.

_Beep._

_Esme, this is Phil. I hope you don't mind but Chelsea gave me your number. Do you think you'll be available for coffee? Shit! I'm the opposite of smooth. Just call me, please._

_Beep._

_Esme, it's Carmen again. Chelsea told me she didn't find you and that she gave Phil your number. You have to call me and spill. Good luck._

_Beep._

_He's dead. Harry is dead, he's with Buffy. And I'm alone... and it's your fault. You're gonna pay. Aaargh!_

Wow. Whomever called Esme, was scary.

_Beep._

_This is Sheila Smith from Smith Security. We call to remind you to schedule a date to uninstall your alarm system. Our number is..._

Alec turned off the answering machine.

"Did you hear that? There's another crazy lady after Esme."

"You know, maybe that was the Sue Sanders that Jenks mentioned. Let's just take the papers we think are important and get out of here. I have a feeling that one of her friends will come soon to look out for her. Does that thing says which number called? I want to call her friends." I didn't tell them that I wanted to know who was the creepy lady calling Esme. Maybe that was another reason for her to run. Maybe the enemy of my enemy...

xxx

"I have a friend..."

"What do you said Alec?"

"I have a friend who may help us. He's into hacking and he's too eager to try something different. Just for the right price..."

"Alec, how much are we talking about?"

"Three six-packs of beer. Or maybe a couple of bottles of liquor."

Sometimes I forgot I'm talking to a teenager.

"Call him. I'll give him porn and if he proves to be helpful, I'll introduce him to some eager girls."

Alec's eyes shined.

"Me too and we have a deal."

xxx

Quil, Alec's friend, didn't look eighteen at all. Alec swore he was just a bit younger but...

"Are you sure you could help us? This is a very different kind of mission."

"Please! I can hack in..."

"I want you to hack this Facebook account." I showed him Chelsea's page.

"Piece of cake."

Alec nodded to me. I huffed. We discussed and I knew I had to show this kid the footage from Bella's sessions to make him understand what we wanted. Sadly, Carlisle came in and told me that he adjusted the rate of cohesion from Bella's molecules or something like that and we have one day more, and that got the kid's attention. Now, I really have to show him.

"See, I have a fiancé. And something happened to her..." Let's hope this kid understands and really is smart enough to help us find Esme on time.

* * *

Hi! Sorry for taking so long, between work and that I was helping one cousin with his math course...

I hope you like this one.

See ya.

May


	25. Chapter 25

**EPOV**

This Quill guy is clearly a genius. I showed him the Facebook page from Chelsea, and asked him to get inside to see if she had pictures or something with Esme.

Sadly, she had nothing, except a guy who liked the bitch.

Then, Alice brought a few printed mails from Esme, thinking he could get into her account. He did it.

Though it was more like he guessed her password than hacker work.

Now Esme make very clear by now to her friends that she was taking some time away... but she never said where, only that she needed some time to grieve her lost daughter. Ha! Grieving her ass when we finally get to her.

I asked Quill if he could find out where she wrote the mails, but he gave a twenty minutes explanation of why that may be impossible because Esme's mail was from Gmail, though he offered to try it. I offered him money, more liquor but finally it was Carlisle's offer to coach him through his college studies what convinced him to help us in everything we needed. He said it was a good practice. And I think he was curious about Bella and not totally convinced of the reality of what happened.

While he worked, I sat in front of Bella's container. You could see her sweet face. She looked relaxed. I sighed. Even as blurry as she was now, she was the most beautiful woman in the world. The shoes she wore today... I was with her when she bought them.

_I remember that day, she broke the heel of her previous pair and wanted to buy ones without Alice taking her to every shoe store at the mall._

_"If you don't want Alice to notice, we have to leave now."_

_"But it's raining!"_

_I shrugged my shoulders. "Just run to the car."_

_And we ran; I opened the door and let her get inside first, then went to my side and she had already opened my door. I got inside laughing. She was so cute, all wet and her hair was all messed up. I couldn't resist, I kissed her._

_I promised her if we found them in the first two stores, I'll buy her chocolate ice cream; if we didn't then she had to buy it for me. _

_"... but I don't want them too high. I'm going to be inside the house!"_

_I pulled some funny kind of shoes. They were made of plastic._

_"Not crocs! It would be like I'm wearing flip-flops. I have to look professional, but not too dressy."_

_We found them in the second store. I think she just chose them to make me buy her the ice cream, and to make out more._

Oh my sweet Bella! I promise you I'll find that little girl. You'll be back to normal. I could not stop feeling guilty. If only I had pressured her to stop earlier...

"She wouldn't have listened to you. She's very stubborn." Alice patted my back.

"How did you know?"

"Because guilt its eating me too. If only... but alas, she was very stubborn and she was adamant to give Esme a chance. Now, I think we all knew this Esme was bad news, but we gave her the benefit of the doubt."

"The loss of a her child made us to take pity on her."

"I think there was more with her. We should had noticed how obsessed she was. Not even Chelsea was like that."

"Guys! Come over here!" Seth came running. "Carlisle found something in the video. He finally developed the last layer of the tapes from Esme's session. The first one we filmed." He took a look at Bella and sighed. "She's the sweetest woman in the world, she never deserved this."

Alice pulled to stand up, and said "Well, at least we have a chance to find her."

xxx

Carlisle was in a frenzy tapping in the keyboard. Quill was mesmerized by he was watching on the screen.

"Guys, this is first session we filmed. Look here's Esme taking her seat. Then Bella is humming. Here!" He pointed to the screen, a shadow came closer to where Esme was seated. It surrounded her and then moved to where Bella was humming. The shadow got more solid behind her back, you could clearly see a little girl but there was another shadow. When the blue fog came from her mouth, the shadow that was behind Bella became the silhouette of a tall woman. But the shadow remained behind Bella the whole session. When the fog got back to her mouth, the little girl was standing with the woman, they held hands and left.

"Wow!" That was Quill, who in his astonishment left his glasses fall to the floor. Jasper almost stepped on them.

"Wait, so there was a woman who brought the daughter. What was her name?" I was beginning to think that woman was the one who manipulated everything.

"The girl's name is Bree. But that woman... she moves gracefully, maybe she's young." Alice answered. By now, she had memorized everything we had on Esme.

"Maybe when you're a ghost you move like that. How are we going to find who's the woman?"

Carlisle was working in another tape, and he called us again to look at the screen.

"Here's another session, one or two before the last."

This time, the shadow didn't come close to Esme. Just appeared behind Bella. While Bella was relaxing, the shadow got more solid... and the shape of an old woman appeared. A hunchbacked, very fat and small woman.

"That wasn't Bree!"

**Esme POV**

The gardener wasn't as creepy as I thought. I was watching him from the kitchen. He wasn't that old, maybe in his late sixties. His long black hair only had a few strands of gray hair intertwined. He had his hair tied on a ponytail, and by his skin colour and the deep black on his eyes I found he was of native american descend.

He greeted me with a nod of his head, and got to work in Rosalie's garden. He pulled out a container with eggshells, and orange skins. Then he proceeded to crush them and mix them. How curious!

I was so entranced with his work that I didn't notice when Bree went out to talk to him. I decided to get to the yard, just to hear what he said.

When I got out, I found a white butterfly on the door. It's funny how these bugs never bothered me, but now I'm beginning to think they may be a plague. When we arrived, I found one and showed it to Bree who smiled. Yesterday I found more. Like a dozen, flying around the garden. But today, now that I was walking in the yard, we had probably forty. I tried to scare them out of the yard, while I paid attention to Bree and the old man.

"So when the orange skin and the eggs decomposed they help the plants to grow."

"Oh! And you don't think worms are yucky; there's one right on your finger." Bree giggled.

The old man lifted his hand, the worm hanging from his finger.

"This friend got curious and maybe lost his way home. Here let me put him back. Probably his family is looking out for him."

"Do worms have Mommy?"

"Of course! And I'm sure she misses him."

"But how will he make it to his home? I'd like to help him."

Oh my sweet girl. Better get a wet rag to clean her hands because she will surely get dirty with that worm.

I got back and the scene was quite different.

"My Mother used to think white butterflies were the souls of our dear ones who passed away."

"So maybe one of those butterflies could be my Dad?" Bree lifted her arm with a butterfly perched on her hand. Bree giggled and murmured something I didn't catch.

The old man gave her a hard glare. What's wrong with him?

Bree crushed the butterfly and giggled.

She dropped the remanent of the butterfly on the grass and turned to the shocked gardener. "You're silly old man." And she ran to me.

"Mommy! The old man said something bad to me!" I hugged her, but I knew she was lying. There was something wrong with Bree. Better cancel that appointment to the animal shelter. We're not getting a cat.

xxx

Later on, I was cleaning the empty rooms. Bree was in her room, I punished for lying.

Because the house came furnished, we had a few things that we didn't need and I didn't want them around; like the exotic lamp on the coffee table. I put a few of them in a box, and climbed to the attic.

The room was dark and in clear need of deep cleaning. I turned on the light and huffed in annoyance. There were boxes everywhere! Well, one more won't make a difference. I walked around to see what else we had here. An old mirror, a mannequin! And there was something near the small window...

I walked and I found a circle made of some kind of white dust with a blanket thrown inside. I tasted it. It was salt. I removed the blanket carefully, who knows what kind of insect was under? Oh God! There were some weird signs made of salt and in the middle, a dead bird was rotting covered in salt.


	26. Chapter 26

**EPOV**

I woke up with a headache. Where the hell was I?

I opened my eyes, the room was dark, but a faint light came from under a door. I looked around, and finally everything came back. I was laying on the floor of the session's room. My sweet Bella was in the container just in front of me. Someone must had give me a pillow and a blanket, because I think I passed out watching her.

I heard voices whispering, so I stood up and went where the light was on. The kitchen.

"So I think we should work on teams. Maybe we can leave Seth checking on the tapes, and you could go with Carlisle to his lab. He said something about a plan for when we come back with the girl." Alice was pouring coffee on mugs. I certainly needed one cup.

"What plan?" I decided to let them know I was here.

"Oh, good morning Edward. I don't think you heard this last night. Carlisle thinks we have to plan what to do when we get Bree. We don't think it would only take to put her in front of Bella. He thinks he have the right machine to do the work."

"So Seth stays here watching the tapes, Jasper and Carlisle go to the lab. What about us?"

Jasper took a sip of his coffee. "Well, I think Quill got something yesterday with the mails. He and Alec have to work here, and I think you and Alice have to check the papers we brought from Esme's home. There must be a clue of where she went."

"Do you think Quill can find something on this Sue Sanders? I think she was the one who called Esme, the weird one."

"Nah, let's put Alec to search about her. Quill is very busy finding where she wrote the mails. Those boxes in the corner are the ones with the papers."

"And the others?"

"Everybody is sleeping. You weren't the only one exhausted."

I nodded, but went to sit in front of the computer with the tapes. I played them again. First session was normal. The second one too, though I noticed another shadow after the girl and the woman. But in the third session, that's when the old woman appeared. And the last one... it was the old woman. It was too bad the image wasn't clear. Carlisle said he had to use another computer to get the clear image of the spirit.

xxxx

Now that we had a plan, everybody was set to work. Alice ordered pizza and passed me the box with the papers. I took the first bunch, and read them. Apparently Jenks was right. Esme became a very rich woman after her husband died. She had a lot of invitations for charity events and lots of people asking for donations. I finally saw a Sanders, but her name was Buffy. Who names their daughter Buffy? She left all her belongings to Charles Evenson, but I read that he was Esme's husband. Wow, so that's why she's so mean. The husband betrayed her.

Hmm, a little white pad. Wait a minute! This one was next to the answering machine. She took the last sheet, but if I remember if you passed a pencil, softly, the text from the last page will appear. I took a pencil and passed it over the last sheet. Two addresses appeared. Yes!

"Guys! I think I may know where Esme is."

Alice came running, and I explained to her what I did.

"The problem is they're in two different directions. Look, one is in Pocatello, Idaho."

"That's too far way. Where's the other one?"

"Forks, Washington. This is very close. Do you think we should go and take a look?"

Before answering, Alice took me to Quill.

"Honey, do you have that first address you mentioned before?"

"Sure. It's in Port Angeles. I need more time to close on the exact place where..."

"No, this is enough."

Now we knew where Esme went. I ran to get my car keys, but Alice stopped me.

"Wait, we need a plan. We can't just go and barge over there."

"Watch me."

I tried to leave the house but this time Alec was the one who stopped me.

"You're wearing only boxers. And Alice is right. You can't go alone and we need a plan. Do you even know how to bring back that kid? That Esme is probably going to scream kidnapping , knowing you're around."

Shit. He was right. So we sat, and discussed a plan. I almost felt that vile woman at the tip of my fingers.

xxxx

**Esme POV**

The first thing that came into my mind, was to take Bree out of this house. I was so scared. Now I knew why she was acting like that. It wasn't only that she died and came back; maybe she saw something from the previous residents of the house.

Well, I have to clean that mess before I made any kind of plan. Obviously Bree was affected, and she didn't have the intention to be bad to those poor animals.

So I went to the kitchen, to get the broom. Again I passed by Bree's bedroom, but she wasn't there. That girl was in real trouble now. She was grounded!

I went downstairs, looking out for her, but she wasn't in the house. I took a look through the kitchen window, she was in the back of the yard. She was talking to a short woman. Damn this friendly neighbors!

I let them talk for a minute and then the woman said goodbye. She was short, with red hair, but her face was familiar.

Bree came running into the house.

"Sorry Mom. But the lady talked to me, she said to give you a message."

Sure. Probably that I'm invited to their weekly bridge game.

"What did she say sweetie?"

"That you can't escape. She will always find you."

What?

"Did she told you her name?"

"Yes. She said she was my Aunt Sue. I didn't know I had an Aunt Sue." That bitch changed her hair color!

xxx

To any outsider I was getting crazy. I closed the doors, the windows. I made a list of groceries so I only had to leave once. We were getting holed up in the house until I find somewhere to go that Sue Sanders wouldn't reach us. Maybe I could order in line? But there wasn't any Wal-Mart or Target in this little town.

There was a knock on my door. It was Rosalie.

"Hi Esme. I hope I'm not intruding."

"No, please come in." What else I had to say?

"Mr. Black had just left."

Oh.

"Do you want something to drink?"

"No, I just came for a quick visit." She turned to look me in the eye. "I'm so sorry for whatever happened with him. I know you can be skittish around strangers or men."

"Excuse me?"

"Hmm, I know what happened to you Esme. It also happened to us."

What?

"My Mother-in-law, god rest her soul, she also escaped from an abusive husband."

Let me ask again, what?

"It's fine, we know how to keep a secret. At least you're healthy. My father-in-law beat her so much she ended invalid. Poor woman. We left our town more than ten years ago, Christ, I was a teenager and I left with them. My family wasn't better, so we decided to escape before that bastard killed her. I knew the moment you arrived here with your little girl. The way you looked around the street before climbing down from your car. The way you watch when your daughter goes to play in the yard. Hell, the way you sweep your front yard. Always looking out for him. Don't worry, we have your back. We know how does it feel."

She left me speechless. So she thought I was hiding from an abusive husband... if she only knew! I have to take this opportunity. Let that damn Sue Sanders come at me again.

"Well, it's not my husband that worries me as much as his mother. She kinda lost it. And I think I saw her."

"How does she look like? We can help you, and call the police."

The police was fine with Sue, but what if Bella's friends came over here?

"I'm not sure if the police would be helpful."

She gave me a knowing glance.

"Don't worry. Emmett is 6' 5'' and strong. He started to go to the gym when we moved, and I know how to throw a punch if it's needed. Oh, and about Mr. Black. Well, he won't be coming back for the next two weeks, but if you see him in one of the neighbors gardens, just ignore him. He really isn't a bad man."

"What did he say to you?"

"Hmm, well, he just said something about your daughter; but I know it was nonsense." She patted my knee and stood up.

I stopped her. "No, please tell me. I, I think this sudden moving affected Bree somehow."

"He said she was different, that she was out of this world; but he didn't say it as a compliment. He said she was evil."


	27. Chapter 27

**Warning: This chapter will show a very deranged Bree.**

**Esme POV**

That night, I let Bree sleep with me. Well, more like Bree let me cuddle with her. I was overwhelmed; between Bree's change of behavior, Sue finding us and the fear that Bella's friends may find us too, I wasn't sure I could ever be fine. Oh! And the words from that nasty old man. Evil his ass. My daughter was only a bit confused after she came back. Now if only I could get some sleep...

I heard noises on the back of the house. Someone was poking around my yard. Bree was sleeping. I decided to scare whomever was lurking outside.

I took a bat I had under the bed, and walked to the kitchen. Very slowly I moved the curtain from the window and looked outside.

Mr. Black was prancing around my yard, throwing a dust on the ground. He was mumbling something I didn't understand. What was wrong with him?

"Get out of my house, you crazy man!" I yelled as I opened the door, bat in hand in case he got violent.

He turned to look at me, for a second he stood frozen in his place. His face contorted in fear and he ran off my yard. I was congratulating me while I got inside, when I noticed Bree was standing behind me. My poor girl probably was scared of that horrible man!

"Sweetie, let's get inside. Mommy got rid of the bad man."

Bree turned her sweet face to me.

"Sure Mommy." She had a weird smug smile in her face. She acted so different sometimes.

xxx

Later that night, I heard a female voice calling me.

_"Esme, Esmeee"_

_I opened my eyes. An old woman was standing in front of me._

_"This girl you have with you isn't your daughter."_

_"What? You're wrong. This is my baby."_

_"No, your daughter is on the other side. This is someone else."_

_"Like you would know the difference. This is my daughter; I gave birth to her, I changed her diapers, fed her and cured her when she was ill. Don't tell me I wouldn't know if this girl wasn't her."_

_The old woman looked at me with pity._

_"You have to go back to Isabella. She needs what you took from her."_

_"No. She had a chance to live, my daughter didn't."_

_"Esme, you have to listen. Take her back, before something worst happens."_

_"You're only a figment of my imagination. I'm having a nightmare. Yes, that right. I'm going to try to wake me up and you'll be gone."_

_"Esme, it's your last chance..."_

Suddenly, I woke up. What a strange nightmare!

It was surely caused by all the turmoil my life had become. And if this made me have nightmares, what could it be doing to my daughter? I patted around the bed, but it was empty. Bree got up.

Probably to go to the bathroom, I mean, I'm sure it was the only reason for her to wake up.

I went out to look for her. She wasn't in the bathroom, or her in her room.

I went down the stairs, and she wasn't in the living room... or the dinning room.

Not even in the kitchen or in the yard. Where was she?

I heard some noises upstairs, and suddenly it occurred to me. The attic. She had been there before, though I don't know how she pulled down the ladder to climb up.

I took the bat and a flashlight, and climbed up to the attic.

It was obscure, so I tuned on the flashlight. I heard some whimpering on the corner where I found the rotten bird. I got closer, and illuminated the corner... Sue Sanders was tied on the floor!

"What the hell are you doing here?"

I got closer, the woman was terrified. She just whimpered and shook her head.

I got closer, to untie her mouth.

"She was dead! Esme, I saw her grave. She was dead!" Sue whispered.

"How did you find us?"

"I-I f-followed you. I've b-being doing it for a wh-i-ile."

I felt someone behind her. It was Bree. She had that weird smile... and a knife?

She quickly pushed Sue's head to the side and cut her throat.

I jumped back, but the blood splattered all around us. That's when I noticed the floor was covered in salt.

Bree stood by Sue while she bled to death.

"It had to be done, Mommy. Look!" And she showed me her other arm. It was getting blurry.

xx

**EPOV**

Carlisle's plan for when we finally bring back Bree was pretty complicated. First, he changed a few settings on Bella's container, so he could connect another container, where we plan to trap Bree, to it. Then he asked us to bring the machine he had on his lab, the one he was working with before all of these happened. Yeah, the one that couldn't turn on. He promise to make it work while we were out, but we offered to help him to set it in the living room.

Alice's house was trashed. We took the furniture to her garage, and pushed the rugs to the walls. The floor was covered in wires and switch boxes. Jasper and Seth changed the fusible box to let it support the amount of electricity we were using

Carlisle also explained to us that we would be carrying coal and salt. Those elements were used to bind a spirit to the earth. We were supposed to surround the girl with them and then he gave us a container full of chloroform, to get her and Esme unconscious. It was the only way we could get and bring them back here.

"Why do you want to bind her to the earth? And how..." I asked, just because Carlisle was speaking again in his own language.

"You know how most of our work is hypothetical, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, I'm not sure if that spirit will try to escape when she feels threatened. We need you to bring her still in the little girl's body."

"Bree." Alec said.

"What?"

"The girl's name is Bree. And you're telling us that we have to bring her sedated so she doesn't have the chance to escape."

"Sure. Because we can't risk her trying to leave the body. I'm not sure if she can leave, but we can't risk it. The plan is that somehow you get closer to them, and use the chloroform to get them unconscious. Then you'll cover the girl with the bags with coal and salt. Meanwhile we'll get that machine working."

"The one you said could trap a spirit within 6' range?"

"Yes. I designed it to work on the house of a colleague who thinks his ancestors house has a poltergeist and we thought we could trap it with that machine." He got a faraway look. "But that experiment is for another time. I hope that by the time you get back, the machine will be working and we will keep that girl, Bree, here."

"Then what?" Alec was also anxious to get Carlisle's plan.

"Then we'll try to get her in trance, so Bella has the chance to regain her body back."

"It's too risky. What if...?"

"We don't have another plan; but if you bring that girl back quickly, we will have time to try more ideas. Now I want you to go and be careful. There's only a four-hour drive to that little town where Esme is hiding. Get them here."

Alice, Alec and Quill got out of the house and into the car. I walked to the container where my Bella was waiting.

"Be strong my love. I'll bring her to you and you'll get your body back." I kissed the tip of my fingers and put them to the hight of her heart. " I love you, and I'm not gonna give up until I have you by my side again."

* * *

Hi! I hope I didn't scare you Bree's actions; but Edward is going to get her.

Now this story is getting closer to the end, I think four or five more chapters; so I wanted to tell you about my new story.

**Milford Creek** Summary: Post BD. Two years had passed after the encounter with Volturi. The Cullen moved to another town to start a new cycle leaving Forks behind. What if Jacob wasn't completely sincere with the story of what he did when he ran away before Bella's wedding? What if there are other covens hiding their different food choice?

I'll post the prologue next week, and the story will start after this one finishes.


	28. Chapter 28

**Esme POV**

Bree's arm was getting blurry! What was happening?

Bree pushed me back.

"Mommy, you need to stand outside of the circle." And she sat with the bloody Sue on her lap. She was murmuring something I couldn't understand.

After five minutes, she lifted her arm and it was still blurry. She huffed, dropped the body and crawled to my side.

"It didn't work."

"Why did you do it?"

"Mommy, she was the bad woman who scared you. She would had followed us always. Besides, I needed to... it was the only way I thought to keep my body." She began to cry.

"Shh, shh. My sweetie. Let me think what to do to fix this."

I had to admit that I was terrified. I watched not only my daughter killing someone, but she was disappearing. Would murder be the only way to keep her around? This wasn't what I agreed to do when I brought her back.

"This is happening because the medium is still alive. If she was dead, then my arm would stay normal."

"Baby, what do you mean? I thought you never met the medium."

"She was the woman who opened the door for me to come, and she lent me her body to become real."

"But you were real."

"In this realm."

She kept sobbing for a while, and my mind was running wild. How do we get rid of the body? How do I clean this mess without anyone noticing?

At least Sue was a fugitive, and no one saw her coming here.

Then I remembered Mr. Black.

He was around here before. What if he saw Sue coming here?

Oh God! What to do?

"Mommy, we need to go back."

"What sweetie?" She had to be joking.

"We need to go back to the medium."

"But I don't think that's a good idea. Isabella's friends won't be happy with us. They'll surely do something to keep us apart."

"No mommy, you don't understand. If I don't kill her, I will disappear and all of these would be in vain."

She really had to be joking.

xxx

It took two hours but Bree finally convinced me to go back. We decided to leave my car here, so we had to steal another one. Our only choice were our friendly neighbors Rosalie and Emmett.

"We will also need more money. We can't go back to Mr. Jenks." I told her and Bree nodded. She was very cold and calculating. Nothing like the sweet girl she was before.

"How do you want to make it?" I asked, clearly she was the one running this how.

"You go and knock on their door, tell them you saw Mr. Black in our yard and you're scared. Leave the rest to me."

xxx

**EPOV**

We discussed our plan on the four-hour drive to Forks.

Alec had to be the one coming to the door, hoping Esme wouldn't recognize him. Alice was sure she would scream murder if we got close.

Jasper suggested we brought documents showing Bree was dead; we had a copy of the death certificate and her passport. Esme left too many documents behind. Just for when we have to prove Esme was insane, though I hoped it wouldn't be necessary. We didn't have the time.

"Here, is that house." Alec pointed to a nice house, with a car parked in the garage, that was open? I parked, and Alec descended to check on the car.

"You said Esme's car was black with..."

"Yeah. It's this one. But why did she leave the garage door open?" Alice was also checking.

Quill was supposed to stay in the car, if we needed to leave quickly. I opened my backpack, and went out. I passed Alec a flashlight.

"Please, do the honors."

He walked around the garage, and opened the door to the house.

"It's too quiet. Want me to go inside alone first?"

Knowing Alice's tendency to crash and knock off furniture and my lack of stealth, Alec was the best option. We nodded.

Meanwhile, we closed the garage door, and waited for Alec. He was back two minutes later.

"They left."

"Oh no!"

"What do we do now?"

A very tall man and a blond woman came into the house. Could we had gotten the wrong address?

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" The blond had a ferocious glare. The man was holding a towel on the back of his head.

"We're looking for Esme Platt. She stole something..." Alice told them.

"Yeah, well, get in line. She also stole from us." The blond woman answered.

"I'm Edward Cullen, and this is Alice Whitlock and Alec..."

"You're Edward Cullen the writer?" The man smiled.

"Hmm, yes."

"I love your books."

"Shut up!" The blond woman pushed him. "Rosalie and Emmett Hale. That bitch knocked us off and took our car and the money we had in our house! What did she steal from you?"

"Well, it's a very long story." I told them.

"It started when her daughter was killed in an accident." Alice said.

"But she was living with her daughter. She told us she was running away from an abusive husband."

"No, it was a very different story, let me show you..."

And Alice, who had a better way with words than me, explained what we were doing there.

xxx

Alec sniffed around the room.

"It smells awful. Like someone spilled bleach. Lots of it."

He was right.

"Let me look around." I said, and Rosalie offered to come with me.

The smell was stronger on the top floor, but we looked around and there was nothing on the bedrooms or the bathroom. Just a mess of clothes.

Rosalie took one of the shirts on the pile. It was covered in blood.

"Do you know if this house has an attic?"

"Sure, follow me."

She walked to the hallway, and pulled down a rope to open a trap door in the ceiling that made the ladder fall down. I climbed first.

It was dark, I used my flashlight to find the switch to turn on the light. It was on the middle of the attic.

When I turned on the lights, Rosalie was already behind me.

"Look, there's a pile of rags on the corner." I told her.

We got closer. It was a mess. The floor was covered in a white powder with red patches.

"More blood." She said.

I got closer, and pulled the rag on the top.

There laid the dead body of a woman. Rosalie ran off to throw up.

xxx

If they doubted our story, when we found the body there were starting to believe us.

"Where would they possibly go? They know now you'll also be looking out for them." Alec asked.

Emmet mentioned the GPS on his car and then I remembered Quill. He was busy in the Hale's home, because he was using their wi-fi.

"Quill, do you think you could find the car?"

"I'm working on it. Hey, it looks like they're going back to Seattle. They're getting closer to your house Alice!"


	29. Chapter 29

**Esme POV**

The road was still empty when we got into Seattle. I was so lucky because Rosalie hadn't reported her car as stolen. The house where we had the sessions was close, and I was aching to leave this car. Bree was quiet like in a trance. She only told me to go to the medium's house. She would take care of the rest. Like she did before. It was kind of amazing to look how she knocked Emmett's head and made him fall. Rosalie was easier, only a push to let her fall from the stairs.

The house had the lights on. How many people would be inside?

"Bree, sweetie. Why don't you wait in the car while I look around the house?"

"Be careful Mommy."

I was cautious enough to park one street back.

The house was silent, so maybe they were out... I decided to get inside.

"Wait Mommy." Bree whispered yelled. She came running and stood behind me. "How are we going to get inside? I don't hear them."

Well, that wasn't true. The only sound was the buzz of a machine. Maybe they needed to repair the fridge because we could hear it from the outside.

"Just let Mommy get inside first, ok? I want you to look out for Alice or Edward, the petite woman with black hair and the tall man with red hair. Those are the most dangerous."

Bree stood at the door, with the bat on her hands. She was freakishly strong for a seven-year old girl.

I tried the doorknob and surprisingly it opened. Very slowly I turned it around... and pushed the door open a bit; just enough to take a peek inside.

The view was blocked by a mirror that was leaning on a couch. I was sure there was a mess inside.

"Bree, come and get inside." I opened the door barely enough to let us in.

She was quick to obey.

"Now listen sweetie. I want you wait for me here." I pushed her to kneel behind the couch. "You can see what's going on if you look in the mirror."

Bree nodded and held the bat.

I crawled slowly to the edge of the couch. There was a mess in that living room. The tables were pushed to one side, and a couple of rugs were rolled up and leaning on those tables. I kept crawling until I was under one table and was blocked by a rug. I couldn't see anyone around. The problem was, they only way was going to the room where the sessions were held. That room wasn't as illuminated as this one and I wasn't sure if I could hide. What to do?

The not so quiet buzz of the fridge got louder. Perhaps someone was coming.

"Shit!" A male voice that was far enough to let me believe I had the chance to leave my hideout.

Quickly, I stood up and ran to the session's room. But what I saw inside shocked the hell out of me.

"Isabella..." She was blurry inside a box with one glass wall. I knocked the other one and found out it was metal.

How were we supposed to get her out so Bree could get rid of her?

I heard a commotion in the back, but suddenly I heard a male voice, while a pair of big hands held me and put a rag on my nose.

"I knew you would come back, bitch."

And then everything went black.

xxxx

**EPOV**

"Go faster!" Rosalie was the worst chase companion. She was on the back of the car, kicking the back of my seat when she felt I was slowing down.

"I don't want to be stopped by a cop. It will delay us." I huffed with clenched teeth.

Emmett was in the front with me, carrying the other two laptops. Quill and Alec were crammed working really fast texting Jasper and Carlisle about our recent discoveries. Alice was kind enough to climb in Rosalie's lap and was trying to relax her.

"Tell them that our ETA is in twenty minutes." I said.

"We probably would be already there if I was driving." Rosalie huffed. She was furious that Esme took advantage of her good will and stole from them. She was mumbling how she should had listened to her gardener, he saw through Bree's angelic façade.

"But no! Don't listen to the old man. He probably didn't have all his marbles. He was the one right. He said something about the butterflies, but did I listen? No, of course not."

That peeked Alice's attention.

"What about the butterflies?"

"Since those two arrived, our gardens were full of white butterflies. Mr. Black told me they were the spirits of our loved ones, but I laughed. It was something so ridiculous!"

Alice said "Renee told me, the butterflies were bad for Bella."

"Well, from what I heard she wasn't close to any." Emmett pointed out. He was very calmed for being a man who was assaulted and had a bleeding wound. He was a bit skeptical about Bree but was happy to help us. He never liked Esme, like Rosalie did.

"Tell them we're here." I approached Alice's house and parked on her neighbor's side.

Alice was the first to come out, but she said to give her a minute because her legs had cramps. Alec opened the door of the car, and rolled on the floor.

"Augh!"

Jesus! I rolled my eyes.

"What? You didn't have your legs crammed because there wasn't space." Alec said, standing up. "Look, there's a white butterfly in the tree!"

We walked around it.

"Well, are you ready?" Emmett said, walking to the door.

It was a bad decision. As soon as he opened it, someone knocked him out with a bat. I was glad Esme didn't have a gun.

Rosalie ran to his side, and I pushed the furniture blocking our entrance. Alec was the first one to get in, and he said in a low voice that the living room was cleared.

I helped Rosalie to bring Emmett into the house, and this time he didn't lose consciousness.

"Get that bitch. I want her head."

Rosalie gave him a very cruel smile. "You got it baby." Damn, I never want to get in that woman's bad side. She unscrew one leg of the coffee table.

"Just to be equally armed." Alec high-fived her.

We walked slowly to the room where Bella was in her container, but we heard a crash in the kitchen.

We ran over there, and we found something terrible.

Bree had Seth by the neck, a knife pointed to his throat.

"Where's the medium? Tell me or I will kill him!"


	30. Chapter 30

**EPOV**

_Bree had Seth by the neck, a knife pointed to his throat._

_"Where's the medium? Tell me or I will kill him!"_

My first thought was to ask for Esme, or why did she hide in the kitchen, when it was more probable we hid Bella in the sessions room. I was also tempted to kick her ass and let Seth to fend himself, but I remembered how he had helped us, and how he didn't know how to fight. Besides, for what Emmett told us, she was very strong and we didn't know what other unusual tricks she may pull.

Now, Alec and Quill were texting furiously behind my back, blocked from Bree's view. So when Quill whispered that Carlisle said it was clear and we could guide her towards the sessions room, I had to do it. I had to get under her skin, to make her feel out of control.

"I could guide you. I know you're desperate." Because I was sure, if Bella had limited time to get her body back, maybe Bree had limited time to break whatever connection she still had with Bella. It went both ways.

"You don't know a thing."

"Oh, but you're wrong. You need to find her soon, before your body turns into the blueish fog and then disappear."

My guess was right. Her eyes became wilder with the mention of the fog.

"Now, I can get you closer to her, but I also want you to drop my friend. He's not really involved in any of these."

"No, I'll let him go when I get closer to the medium." She said and she held Seth's neck tighter.

Quill was whispering to me to just do it, that Carlisle was waiting for us. To remember his first machine. His first machine? Then I remembered.

"Well, we have to go over there first." I pointed to the door, it connected with dinning room.

"Do it slowly. We don't want me to lose my foot and sink this knife on his throat, right?" She had a demented smile.

I took a few steps back slowly. Alec and Quill ran to the session's room, probably to help Carlisle.

"Now let's turn to the left." I kept walking backwards, trying to keep her attention on me. She had Seth on his knees, crawling by her side.

"Just a few more steps..."

I knew where Carlisle wanted her, because it was the only part lighted in the room. When she walked inside the room, I knew she felt that Bella was close. She dropped Seth and walked faster into the room. That was when Carlisle lighted the room and his latest invention started up.

It was the three metal boxes he was working with the first time I went to his lab. The ones that were supposed to keep a spirit trapped. And apparently, they worked fine.

"What are you doing to me?" Bree asked when she noticed she couldn't move.

"We want to have a little chat with you." Alice said, pushing Esme into the room. She had her hands tied in her back. Alec and Quill were blocking the other entrance to the room. They knew there wasn't a way out.

Carlisle came to my side. "We want to know what make you believe you could come into our world and steal the life of a great woman."

Esme growled. "She was robbed! She needed the chance to live!"

This time I looked at her with pity.

"Do you still believe this is your daughter?"

Esme answered with a huff. "Of course!"

Rosalie growled behind me. I didn't notice when she came inside. "How could you be so stupid? Your daughter is gone!"

"No! She is here! And you're hurting her."

Bree chose that moment to fake her most innocent face and began to sob. She really knew how to manipulate her.

"My poor baby!"

In all the mess and drama, I didn't notice that Carlisle had a rag and a bottle of chloroform. And he was getting closer to Bree. Jasper had the same things, but he and Emmett were getting closer to Esme. Now I understood. But I wanted a few answers before they sedate them.

"I want answers Bree. Who really are you?"

xxxx

**Esme POV**

Even though I was tied, I still could move my feet. I was thinking if I had a chance to free Bree if I kicked Alice...

When Edward asked to Bree who she really was, I started to hear her sweet voice in my head. Like when she talked to me in my dreams.

_'I will distract them. Turn off this machine. I know you can do it.'_

I looked around the room, there must be a switch somewhere.

"Answer Bree. Who are you?" Edward circled Bree, he looked quite intimidating.

My poor Bree answered him with her sweet voice. "Someone who had waited for so long to come and play."

Edward paced around here once more.

"And do you have a name?"

Bree nodded. "Senna."

Uh?

_'Turn off this machine! I'm distracting them'_

"Where did you come from?"

"From a far land that doesn't exist anymore. It's been so long since I breathed air..."

I tried to not pay attention to her words. She was only distracting them. It couldn't be true. Everything she was saying was only a means to an end. Yes, she was very clever to feed them those lies.

"Why did you use Esme?"

This time I couldn't avoid to listen.

"She was so desperate; and the woman who brought her daughter to us was so naïve. She thought I was helping them to find her family on the other side. Too bad her great-grandmother was looking for her, they had to leave sooner that I had planned. But Esme was so obsessed with hearing her daughter's voice again, that I couldn't resist to help her."

I froze in my place. Could it be possible...

_'Move! Kill the machine!'_

Oh right! I had to help her. Quickly I thought of any way I could push someone to the machine... we were vastly outnumbered.

There had to be another way... I looked at my hands. I had my platinum watch on. A gift from my mother. Perhaps if I threw it to the power supply... if only I found it.

"Do you realize you can't run now. It's over." Alice said, walking closer to Bree. When she moved I saw a bundle of wires and switches. It was my only chance.

Alice walked to the side of the room and pulled a sheet that was covering a box bigger than her.

Inside, like in a bowl, was Isabella.

Bree's eyes got wider, and the voice she used to talk to me in my dreams grew desperate.

_'Do it, do it, do it.'_

With a flick of my wrist, the watch got loose. I turned and moved my wrists until I felt the watch falling. I took it with both hands and I aimed to the wires and threw the watch.

Then all happened in slow motion for me.

The watch fell on the wires, but it didn't turn off a thing. But, one of the wires was sparkling, like it was about to cause a short-circuit. It exploded and blew the fuse box. The machine was off. But the house went dark.

I knew Bree escaped when I heard her laughing, but I felt someone tugging on my hands.

"You don't move bitch!"

I felt a cold breeze flowing on my back and then I heard a window crash.

Someone yelled "Nooo!"

Suddenly a candle was lighted somewhere in the room, and we all stood frozen in our places. Bree was standing in front of Isabella, and this time she opened her eyes and was looking at Bree.

* * *

Hi!

I know, I'm evil to finish the chapter here. Wait next chapter on Thursday. Two more chapters and an epilogue left.

May


	31. Chapter 31

**Esme POV**

The moment Bree set her eyes on Bella, something changed in the air. You could feel the electricity.

Bella opened her eyes, and even though she was blurry, her eyes had a determination I never saw in anyone. The odds didn't seem to go in our favor.

I glanced around the room, just to check what were we fighting with.

Emmett had Rosalie cornered by a window, his stance protective of her. Edward and Alice were by the sides of the box where Bella was seated. And the older blond man was a few steps behind, working like crazy trying to bring the lights on. The two boys were in the back, helping the man Bree held hostage. He had his neck burnt from where Bree held him. The other blond man was helping them.

That's when I remembered Bree's arm. I took a quick peek at her, sure enough, the arm was blurry.

Isabella moved and all of us gasped.

Very slowly, her body stood from the chair. It was curious, because her clothes moved like she was complete, normal.

Bree was still. She didn't move.

Isabella raised one arm, opening her hand. Bree's blurry arm became blurrier, and suddenly it morphed into the blueish fog.

The fog flowed around the space between them and then got back to Bella's hand where it fused with her hand.

Bree shivered, and then screamed in anger. Her other arm held the knife and she raised it, like she was going to stab Isabella.

In that moment Edward jumped in action and knocked Bree down.

One would think that a man so big like Edward should have Bree contained, but she was very strong and fought him with her only arm left. I wasn't going to stand and look.

I took a step closer to them but Alice jumped on and knocked me out.

The old blond man yelled "Remember we need her alive!"

Bree head-butted Edward and he fell. She stood up and looked back. The metal boxes that were behind her flew; one fell and knocked out the boys and the two men, the second fell and blocked Emmett and Rosalie, and the third one threw Alice away from me. This was my chance.

Bree charged at Edward with her good armed hand in the air, and I saw how Edward was going to kick her to avoid the knife. So I ran and threw myself at Edward, but Bree was already lowering her arm. She got me.

"Aww!"

Bree was horrified.

"Stupid bitch! You had to get in the way."

"Bree..." I felt pain in my chest, and it was difficult to breath; but the knife got me on the back! I was feeling so weak...

"Bree..." It didn't matter if the last thing I saw was my beautiful daughter's face. Too bad what was standing looking at me was the face of an old wrinkled woman.

"I'm not Bree, you stupid shit. I'm Senna!"

It was in that precise moment I realized this woman tricked me. The whole time she had lied to me. And I was so eager to help her. If only I wasn't so desperate to get my daughter back...

As the darkness began to fall, I did the only thing I could to make amends for all my sins.

Bree or whatever this woman's name was, trusted me; so she let me get my hands closer to her head. I caressed her face lovingly, like a mother should. But my hands got lower and then I tried to strangle her. I tried until the darkness finally took me in.

xxxx

**EPOV**

Esme was crazy, she got in the way and Bree stabbed her. Worst, Esme tried to kill Bree and we needed her alive.

But it worked because Esme's attack and dead, distracted Bree. Carlisle was behind me with the rag and the chloroform.

We didn't count on Bree reacting too quickly.

She kicked the bottle and the vapors of the chloroform got Carlisle.

I was still dizzy from her blow. I stood up, but I hadn't got back my balance.

I heard in the distance something knocking on the doors.

Then on the windows.

Was it only in my head?

No it wasn't because Bree looked around panicked.

There were thousands of soft knocks. Like someone was throwing little rocks to the windows.

I took two steps closer to Bree, maybe it was time to take her by surprise.

I think someone moved on the back, because Bree yelled "Don't open it or I'll kill him!"

But I felt the wind coming from the window.

I pushed her with hopes to make her fall, but the damn girl was so strong, that she turned around and this time she kicked me on the ribs.

I couldn't breath.

Then I was shocked by the most beautiful voice.

"Leave it Edward. I'll take it from here." I turned to her voice, and found her taking one step closer to Bree.

In that moment the window that was partly opened, exploded.

Thousands of white butterflies came flying and surrounded Bree and Bella. Bella was getting closer to Bree.

They must had come from another window too, because soon they were coming from every entrance to the room.

The butterflies circled them and soon they were covering all around them.

It looked like an sphere.

Soon, the sphere began to float. It went up, and then it elevated a bit more.

We could only hear the buzz from the insects flying.

Carlisle crawled to my side and patted my shoulder.

It was unbelievable.

Then we all heard a scream.

"Noooo!" It was Bree's voice.

A bright light came from the sphere and it was so intense that it blinded us for a minute. I tried to keep my eyes open, but I couldn't see a thing. I had to protect my eyes with my hand.

Then it all was quiet.

I opened my eyes.

The lights were on, and by now the sun was bright in the sky.

There were no sign of the butterflies.

And Bella was lying in front of me.

"Bella! Love!" I finally got her back in my arms.

She was still, but her heart was beating and I felt her soft breath in my arm.

"She will be fine." This was another woman's voice.

I looked up. She looked a lot like Bella but her hair was different. She had a white robe on and she kneel and extended her hand to caress Bella's face.

"She made so many friends in this side and they all came willingly to help her. We took that awful spirit to her place to receive her punishment. You'll never hear from her again." Then her hand touched me, but I didn't feel a thing. "You'll be happy, I know. But you have to keep her away from the supernatural."

I thoroughly agreed.

"Tell those two that they're also free. His father died and won't be looking for them." She was looking at Emmett and Rosalie. Then her eye fell on Carlisle, who seemed to not hear us. "He has good intentions, just help him to choose wisely his work. His curiosity could lead him to trouble."

Then she finally looked at Alice, who was slowly regaining her wits. "Take care of her too. She's very brave." Then she noticed my confused face. "They can't really see us now. They only see a bright light. Now I have to leave, but you'll always be on our thoughts."

She kissed Bella's forehead and suddenly she vanished.

I held Bella closer to me. I knew she had to rest, and I was really scared thinking how long would it take her to go back to her happy joyful normal self.

* * *

Hi! Did you like it?

One more chapter and the epilogue.

See ya.


	32. Chapter 32

**Esme POV**

I opened my eyes. There wasn't darkness around me, just a faint trace of light in a gray world. Where was I?

"So you ended here."

That voice... It was so familiar. It reminded me of sadness and fear.

"Wake up! I have to show you around here."

He shoved me to the side and I didn't have a choice but to open my eyes. It was Charles. My deceased ex-husband.

"You! What are you doing here?"

"Apparently I'm your babysitter around here."

"But how long would we be here?"

"Forever Esme."

xxxx

**EPOV**

"Oh my God! Is Bella!" Alice came limping to our side. When Bree threw the metal box, she hit her pretty hard on the leg.

I found it very difficult to let Bella into Alice's arms, but she also had a right to hug her. I tried to get up, but the pain on my ribs was excruciating.

"Wait, don't move Edward. Let me check on you." Carlisle helped me sit and carefully touched my torso.

"I think you have a cracked rib. You have to go to the hospital."

I nodded. "I'm not the only one. Seth seems hurt too. And Alice. Don't forget about Emmett."

Carlisle turned around, Jasper was helping Rosalie to stand up, the other boys were seated on the turned boxes.

"You know, before we go to the hospital, we have to plan what to do with her." Rosalie pointed to where Esme's body laid.

"And don't forget about the other body, the one at Esme's house." Alec said, and he was right; but who was that woman?

Emmett shuddered just remembering the body. "I don't know, e never saw her before."

Jasper, always the most calmed in the room, took a seat and began to plot our plan. "Maybe she was the woman you heard on the answering machine. The creepy one. Now we have to think fast, I want to take all of you to the hospital, and I think we will need an explanation to the authorities. Sooner or later someone will find that body. And we have to get rid of this one before it rots and stinks."

Rosalie, went to look up on Esme's body, to find if she had something on her. She was lucky, Esme's phone wasn't damaged.

"Well, we came here after that crazy bitch attacked us and stole our car. But I'm not sure if we left anything when we were at the house."

"We were wearing gloves." Alec mentioned.

Rosalie nodded. "And I threw up, but I cleaned the bathroom. So we have to go back and clean my fingerprints or any trail we left. I think Emmett and me could solve that part. We can go to the police after, claiming we just found out."

"But we used the tracking function on the GPS on your car. The time is set... let me try to modify it." Quill interrupted.

"Or, we could say that I fainted and just woke up. Rosalie was scared and didn't want to leave my side." Emmett said.

"And what do we do here?" I asked. I thought that plan left too many loose ends. What if the police got us on something?

Carlisle smiled. "I have a better idea. But we have to be quick."

xxxxx

"But then how could a 5' 4'' woman could hurt you like that?" The police officer was looking at Seth's neck. He was the only one who doubted our story.

Alec and Rosalie got back to Forks, and verified we didn't leave a thing there, and cleaned whatever Rosalie touched. Meanwhile, we took a detour to one cliff near the town where we dropped Esme's body tied to a few of Emmett's dumbbells into the sea. We dropped her phone near Forks, and we were happy to get rid of it, Jenks had called her.

That was when Rosalie made a big show of finding the body on Esme's house.

We said that Esme attacked Emmett and Rosalie, probably under the influence of drugs, took their car and came to Alice's house. Here she dropped the car, tampered with the lights and drugged us using chloroform. We had to say she had a gun, because there wasn't a way one woman could control eight adults. Then she wreaked havoc in the house, which wasn't a problem to show and we had the scars to prove it. Seth's marks were made by a tiny hand, we mentioned Esme was a petite woman. Then, just in case someone digged more and found traces of Rosalie or Emmett at the house, we mentioned they came over after the trace of their car.

Everyone believed us except for two exceptions. That police officer, and Jenks.

Jenks was shocked, and demanded a thorough investigation; but at the end of the day, Esme was the only one who could had killed that woman, the infamous Sue Sanders. Then he had to admit everything pointed to Esme taking Rosalie's car. And by then, he knew Esme was deranged enough to attack us. He was still looking out for her.

Surprisingly, Chelsea helped to back up our story. She mentioned how devastated Esme was after loosing Bree, and she hinted about the use of certain drugs, when alcohol wasn't enough to numb the pain. Jenks had to admit that as true. What he didn't know was that Chelsea came to talk to me. She would never mentioned her real link to us, and she promised to help but we have to answer all her questions. When Alice told her how Esme brought a bad spirit from the other side and how that spirit caused all these problems, Chelsea felt ashamed for introducing Esme to us. So Chelsea helped us.

Even Mr. Black helped. He was so glad the evil girl was gone that he was happy to tell the police how crazy Esme acted though he only saw her once. Obviously he never mentioned Bree.

Finally, after a very stressful week, the police closed the case. Esme was a wanted woman for the murder of Sue Sanders, not to mention robbing a car and attacking us. Jenks still claimed that Esme was innocent, and he was sure Esme killed Sue in self-defense. Maybe he was right, but no one would ever know the truth.

Bella recovered from her injuries after four days. Somehow she knew everything that happened while she was out, and she said she was delighted to close that part of her life. No more helping people to get in contact with the other side. We were happy to be at home, planning our wedding.

The only tangible proof of Bree's coming out from the other side was a picture. Rose said they had a very nosy neighbor, Susan. Well, Susan was looking through her window the day Esme and Bree arrived to the house and she took a picture because she thought Bree was a very cute girl. luckily, Susan went to visit her daughter in Vermont and left the city for a few days and when she came back, Rosalie informed her that their new neighbor lost her daughter and got crazy. Susan horrified, gave Rosalie the picture.

In it appeared Esme and Bree coming down from their car. The interesting thing was that while Bree's face was cute and she was smiling, the reflection on the car's window showed and old wrinkled woman smiling.

* * *

Hi! I'm marking this story as complete, but I'll post the epilogue later on the week. Hope you liked this last chapter.

See ya.


	33. Epilogue

**EPOV (Five years later)**

_'And she ran into the rain. She was finally free.'_

Nah. The end of my last novel sucked ass. I just couldn't get it right.

I decided to rearrange the objects on my desk to clear my mind.

First, our wedding picture. I had to take it on my hands and smile. It was one of the best days of my life.

It took place five months after our ordeal. We needed to be sure the investigation was closed and then we have to be sure we could leave the country for our honeymoon. Yeah, it was bothersome but they had to made sure because it wasn't only Jenks looking out for Esme. Her parents couldn't believe she left just like that.

I remember how beautiful Bella looked in her white gown. Her eyes shone like never before. We had a very intimate wedding, only a few of our friends were present. Alice's attention to details transformed her backyard into a fairyland. With little white lights shinning on the trees, white flowers decorating every table, white bows falling from the bushes. Then there was Bella's gorgeous figure in that dress. She was flawless.

I remember how lovely were our vows, how fun was to dance and make a fool of ourselves with our friends. Then when we left, Bella gave me the best gift one could receive. She told me we were pregnant.

"Edwaaard!" Talking about my love.

"In my office, dear!"

The door opened and here she came... with our four-year old son Elliot.

"Take care of him while I go to the store for some things I forgot. Don't let him draw on the walls or you will be the one cleaning it." Bella left in a whim.

Elliot giggled. He obviously remembered the day he painted a house on the hallway. It took us three days to clean that mess.

"Elliot, you'll behave for Daddy, right?"

"Yes Daddy." But he had that same crooked smile I had when I was up to no good. My son was jut like me. The only thing he got from Bella was the hair, thanks God because my hair is a mess.

"Look, why don't you bring your cars and we can play while Mom comes back."

Elliot ran for his cars. I love him to pieces but he was too much to handle some days, and he had that look today... today when everybody was coming to have dinner with us and if we left something out-of-place Bella would have our behinds.

Alec was moving back, he finished college and decided to take a year to travel around the world with his girlfriend Jill before settling around here. He was somehow unsure of what to do with his degree on Business management. He called and told us he had news. I guess he finally decided.

Quil finished college and decided to work for Carlisle. He idolized him to the point of working part-time while he finished his degree on computer science. Now, Quil was a natural and had a way to think outside the box that left us perplexed from time to time. He helped the guys to improve that machine who kept the spirits trapped. Now it was made of three little boxes and few wires. It was a success. People from all over the world called Carlisle and his team to clean their buildings of 'poltergeist' or 'ghosts'. They tampered with the machine, in way that it sent the spirits back to the other side always successfully. Jasper and Seth were proud of their newest partner.

They were the only ones who kept working with the supernatural.

Bella became my agent/manager/assistant and tamer. She was excellent to deal with fans, my editor and Aro. She organized interviews, tours, photo shoots and everything related to my writing. She was awesome and it kept her away from any supernatural deals. The only thing she let me do is to answer fan mail. It really gets in her nerves.

We told Rosalie and Emmett about his father's demise, and they were fast to move here to Seattle. It seems they weren't so fond of little Forks after all. We helped them to open a car repair shop, because Rose was great with cars, and soon she had help. Alice found her new vocation. She was great to help with the designs of the cars and talking to potential clients.

So life was really good for us. And now Alec was back.

Shit, that meant Jenks coming to dinner with us. He still believes he owes to Aunt Jane to check on Alec's life, and with time, he became a good friend to Alec and Bella. He and I will never be friends though.

The sweet laugh of my kid brought me back from my musings.

"Daddy! I drew pretty cars."

Shit, not the walls again. "Elliot!"

xxxx

"Alice this pie is to die for. Where did you find the recipe?" Carlisle asked, still licking his spoon. He really enjoyed dessert.

Alice blushed before answering. "Well, it isn't mine. One of our... clients is opening a bakery and she gave it to me. I guess we should invest on her business, my intuition tells me so." She winked at me.

Alice's gift still works, but after Esme's debacle she wasn't so sure to trust it. Bella always told her that her gift and my intuition worked fine, that she was the one in the wrong giving Esme a chance when we all got bad vibes from her. But Alice is still unsure. Nevertheless, when she told me she prefered we stayed at home instead of going out to a dinner across the city, we were promptly to listen; and we avoided a terrible accident. So I guess she still has it.

"Count me on! This pie is delicious!" Jenks also was licking his spoon.

"So guys," Alec stood up and took Jill's hand, "I decided what I want to do. And I'm glad you liked the pie and seem so ready to invest in the bakery. See, Jill had all this courses in culinary arts and she was the one who made the pie. We discussed it, and we want to open a bakery together."

We all cheered and congratulated them. We were worried he decided to move far from us, and felt relieved when he told us he was staying.

Jenks asked me to have a few words with him, so I guided him to my office.

"What I want to say to you isn't easy, but I am man enough to say it. I apologize for doubting your intentions all these years."

Uh? Of all the things I thought he would tell me...

"Hmm, apology accepted, but may I ask what made you change your mind?"

"If I'm honest, I felt very protective of Esme at the beginning because every person that came to her, was up to something. So when you came telling me she stole something... " He shook his head. "Anyway, all this time you always had Alec's best interest in mind and I think I should thank you for making my work with him easier."

"We consider him part of our family."

"I know, and you may think why does it matter to me? Well, Aunt Jane was my mother's second cousin, so we're related. My family was never close and we lose contact, but when Jane came with her concerns and asked me to act from afar to not scare Alec and give his parents a chance to steal his inheritance I followed her instructions despite what my guts told me. Now, I found that my side of the family wronged Jane's side and I think Alec may be resentful if he found out we're family. So please, keep it for yourself."

"And about your change of mind?"

"Well, it came to my knowledge what Bella used to do for living."

In that moment I felt like someone kicked on my stomach.

"Don't be scared. First I thought it was a scam, so it added to my distrust on you. But recent events showed me I was wrong and after looking at certain tape I'm sure Esme got delusional in her efforts to recover her daughter."

Shit, shit!

"Like I told you, don't be scared. Carlisle showed me a few tapes from Bella's sessions and now I'm a believer. I admire your efforts to recover your wife and certainly my opinion on Esme changed drastically. So do you forgive me for thinking you were trying to take advantage of Esme and Alec?"

He gave me his hand to shake. Of course I forgave him, but I had to make sure he would never tell.

"Just please, keep it quiet. We never mention the sessions. It's all in the past."

"I swear I will never tell."

xxxx

Finally everybody left. I was giving Elliot a bath and hearing Bella singing while she cleaned the dinning room.

"Daddy! I see her again! She's smiling!"

Immediately I turned around, thinking Bella was trying to scare me. No one was there.

"Elliot, are you trying to scare Daddy?"

"No, she's there. She looks like Mom, but she's dressed in white."

Suddenly I felt a soft warm breeze passing on my back. Something else was here.

"Bellaa! Please, come here!"

I tried to not sound scared, but honestly, I was peeing in my pants.

"What's wrong... oh!" Bella was behind me.

For a minute she stood frozen in her place, then she closed her eyes. I was terrified she would try to communicate with whatever was in the bathroom. Elliot giggles put us out of our trance.

"No, I won't tell. It's a secret." Elliot answered to whatever the spirit said. I took him out of the bathtub and wrapped him in a towel.

Bella finally said something. "It's my Mom."

Then she turned to Elliot. "Please honey, never talk to strangers. This time it was someone we trust but I really don't want you to talk to any of them. If someone comes to you, you have to tell me or Daddy. It's really important."

Elliot got serious. He never saw Bella so worried or someone so scared as I was.

"Ok Mommy."

She took him to dress in his jammies, but I wanted to know what did Renee told him. Was he in danger? Why did she chose to talk to him today, when I was giving him a bath?

When I got into his room, Bella already had dressed him and asked him to choose a book to read before bed.

"Come here baby." She took my hand and led me to the hallway.

"Don't worry Edward. He's like my mother. We'll have to check on him, to make him understand what this gift entails..." She was looking into my eyes, so unsure of herself.

I exhaled. I knew it was a possibility when I married her.

"Don't panic Edward, but there's more."

Uh?

She took my hand and put it in her belly. "We're pregnant again. Please tell me we can handle this."

For a second I thought about it. Another baby like Elliot, like Bella... then I looked into her eyes. She's so beautiful, and sweet, she gave me the best gift, our son. Elliot is the light of our eyes.

I held her in my arms.

"Don't worry, we'll make it. As long as we have each other..."

"I love you Edward."

"I love you Bella."

Indeed, with the love we have for each other, the support of our family, I'm sure we'll make it.

* * *

Hi!

First and before I say anything else... Sorry for taking so long to post.

I got an awful stomach infection that put me on bed for a few days.

Now, someone asked me if I was thinking of writing a sequel; honestly I never thought about it. I think I told their story and this is where I like it to end. But never say never. But for now... this is where it ends.

Thank you for coming in this journe with me and I hope to see you in another one.

May


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